Total Eclipse of the Heart
by BrokenFirePen
Summary: Rachel has lost the three most important men to her; her friend, her best friend, and her boyfriend. Seeking the help of Mike Chang, Rachel will explore parts of her she never knew existed and will go to extreme lengths to try and get these men back, as well as forming an unlikely friendship with the ninja master. Cherry friendship/St. Berry
1. Chapter 1

**Post Bad Reputation. When Jesse leaves Rachel for the Run Joey Run music video, what can she do to show him she really didn't mean any harm to anyone or hurt to him? And how can she win Finn's friendship back, as well as gaining a new one? StBerry fic. **

"Do me a favor; if we end up next to each other on the barre at ballet club this week, just do your arabesques and piques in silence. Don't talk to me."

Rachel felt the back of her eyes get hot and tears began to gather on her lids but she held them in strongly as she watched Jesse walk around and away from her. When she knew he was around the corner, she let out a shaky breath and leaned against her locker, letting her head clang against the metal. She let her eyes close and she bit her bottom lip, swallowing as she tried to get rid of the lump that was arising in her throat. It felt like everything was slipping away from her. Sure, she'd had a boyfriend before, but it was Finn and they had had… moments… before they actually got together; breaking up with him wasn't as hard as she thought it was going to be. But Jesse?

He was her first _real _boyfriend. Someone who shared the same interests and hobbies at her and someone who didn't stare at her boobs or ass all the time. Jesse liked theater as much as she did and he did ballet, like she does, he sings, dances. Jesse was Rachel's other half. A life partner. A… A… soul mate.

So, as she really began to taking in the vision of him walking away from her and as her heart began to sink in her chest, she didn't pay attention to anything around her, not the feet stomping on the tile floor, the people chattering to each other, the bell ringing throughout the school. The hallway began to get quieter as people shuffled quickly to their classes. Rachel stayed where she was, sinking down to the floor. She hugged her knees to her chest, digging her nails into her elbows. She felt the hot tears drift down her cheeks and drip off her chin, landing on the owl sweater she was sporting for the day.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but soon she heard the clicking of high heels down the school hallway and they stopped right in front of her. "Rachel?" She looked up to see Ms. Pillsbury standing in front of her, wearing a sea green shirt and a white pencil skirt. Her teal high heels, which had been recently strutting down the hallway, stopped and were now burring in Rachel's vision.

"Are you okay?" she said, a concerned look on her face.

Rachel shook her head. "Do I _look _like I'm okay?" she snapped, looking at herself in the process. "I'm sitting here, in the middle of the school hallway, crying. How could someone not be okay?"

She wiped her nose and Ms. Pillsbury nodded, reaching into her pocket to get a tissue. Instead of handing it to Rachel, she lined her hand with it and held her arms out to Rachel. "Come on," she said quietly, pulling Rachel to her feet. "Let's go have a chat in my office."

Rachel followed the guidance counselor down the halls. She wanted to hit her for how briskly she was walking, like everything in the world was wonderful and beautiful. _News flash, Ms. Pillsbury, _Rachel thought in her mind. _Everything is not wonderful and beautiful. _

She pushed the big glass door to her office open and stepped inside, holding it open wide for Rachel before going to her perfectly straightened and organized desk and sitting down. Rachel stayed where she was, in the doorway, hugging her arms tightly to her body. "Why don't you sit down?" Ms. Pillsbury said, pointing to two of the empty chairs in front of her desk.

Slowly, Rachel moved across the room, sliding into one of the surprisingly comfortable arm chairs. She was sniffling and wiping her nose continuously so Ms. Pillsbury picked up a tissue box and held it out to her. Rachel took a few tissues, blowing her nose and dabbing at her eyes. "Why don't you tell me what's wrong?"

Rachel looked at the red head in front of her, seeing her wide eyes and helpful face made her feel even more upset; vulnerable and weak. "Well, I was do-o-o-oing an ass-s-signment for glee; we had to pick a song with a bad reputation. I did R-r-r-u-un Jo-o-oey, Ru-u-u-n-n, and I used Finn, Noah and Jesse in my video. Th-th-they all got upset with me and… And…"

Rachel began to blubber, mumbling nonsense words and weeping. She covered her face with her hands and cried into them, not paying attention to Ms. Pillsbury, who was moving her hand in different positions on the lower half of her face, not sure what to do to comfort the girl. "Rachel, what happened?" The brunette shook her head, unable to talk about it.

There was a long moment of Rachel sobbing into her hands, her shoulders jerking up and down, her whole body shaking from her tears. Ms. Pillsbury just sat there, watching the small girl cry out her tears, getting rid of all the sadness she could. Her hands were folded neatly on her desk and she pushed the tissue box toward Rachel just in case she needed more. She didn't reach for the tissues, she didn't move from her position at all. She just kept her face covered by her hands and didn't look up once for twenty whole minutes.

"Rachel, would you like me to call your parents and have one of them pick you up?" She shook her head, bringing her face away and revealing her face. Her nose was red and so were her eyes. "Well… Why don't you tell me what happened? From the very beginning."

**My first St Berry fic. I think it'll go well. Please review and let me know! Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter two. Hope you like it! :) **

"And then he said that if we were next to each other in ballet class to not talk to him," she said, letting out a shuddery sigh when she finished, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

Ms. Pillsbury nodded, pursing her lips together in an understanding way. "Okay, well, when was this? Right before the bell rang?" Rachel nodded. "Well, I can't really ask if you've tried anything since it happened such a short while ago, but I can give you some tips for the future, if you'd like them." Again, she nodded. "This usually helps girls who have just gone through a breakup, so I'd suggest getting a friend of yours to take you out; go to the mall, get a manicure, pedicure, get your hair done, just have a day full of you and your friends and having fun."

Rachel looked up, her eyes blood shot. "Really? That's it?" Ms. Pillsbury nodded, smiling slightly at the small girl. "What if that doesn't work?"

"Then get some ice cream and pray you have a fast metabolism," she responded with a sincere look on her face.

Rachel nodded just as the bell rang. She stood up straight, holding her head up high. "Thank you, Ms. Pillsbury," she said, putting hand sanitizer on her palm, rubbing her fingers together. "You've been a big help." She shook the red heads hand before stomping proudly out of the office to her locker.

She started loading her things into her bag, tossing it over her shoulder before closing her locker door. Rachel jumped when she saw a group of people—Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, and Quinn, actually—standing next to her.

"Hi?" she said, confused as to why they would be near her.

"What happened?" Kurt nearly shouted, his words acid and sleek. Her brow furrowed in confusion. "You weren't in drama!"

She sighed. "I was with Ms. Pillsbury."

"Doing what!?" Kurt was still hysterical.

Rachel sighed, turning the dial to her lock and facing the three girls, plus Kurt. "Do you guys wanna go get manicures or something?"

The five teenagers were sitting in comfortable arm chairs, their feet dangling in warm water. At the moment, Quinn and Rachel were having their toes painted, Mercedes and Tina were getting manicures while getting foot massages, and Kurt was getting his fingernails buffed and shinned.

"Rachel, this was a really good idea," Kurt said, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "I needed a girl day."

"Yeah, girl, we should totally do this more often," Mercedes added, wiggling happily in her seat. Quinn and Tina 'Mm'ed in agreement.

"But why did you ask us to come? Don't you, like, not have friends?" Everyone shot Kurt angry looks.

"I needed a me day and Ms. Pillsbury said to invite friends; you guys are the closest things I've got and I'm pretty sure Jesse is probably with the boys, plus I wouldn't want to be with such Neanderthals anyway…" she said, trailing off at the end.

Quinn reached over and squeezed Rachel's hand; Rachel froze at the gesture. "Well, I'm glad you asked us to come with you. I haven't gotten a manicure or pedicure or anything day spa related since I was kicked off the Cherrios; I haven't had the need."

They all nodded in agreement, sighing at the same time. "You know, Rachel, I actually really liked the Run Joey, Run video you did." Rachel turned her head to looked at the blonde next to her. "I mean, sure it was a little bit unfair that you added Puck and Finn in there when you're dating Jesse-"

"Was dating Jesse," Rachel corrected solemnly.

"Oh, sorry," Quinn said quietly, looking around awkwardly. "Was dating Jesse, but I think they're all over reacting. It was just a video…" She trailed off, looking back to Rachel.

The small brunette smiled. "Thanks, Quinn," Rachel said, smiling at her brightly. "It's good to know there's someone who thinks differently than everyone else."

"I liked it," Kurt, Mercedes and Tina chorused, looking at Rachel from behind Quinn. Rachel laughed once, biting her lip. "It was… clever and a little bit comical at how bad it was…"

Rachel smiled. "Yeah, the shot where 'When he looked down, his hands were red,' was a little ridiculous, wasn't it?" They all nodded, smiling. Rachel took a breath, clenching her hands into nervous fists before asking her next question. "Hey, does anyone wanna come over tonight? My dads are gone for the week and I've got the house to myself." Everyone's eyes perked up.

"I know none of you have really liked me, but I think I could use some friends tonight. What do you think?"

"Hell yeah!" Mercedes said, answering for everyone and Rachel smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

Out of everyone, Quinn was the first to arrive at Rachel's house that evening. She was flustered and quite upset; Puck had given her a hard time about going over there.

_"Quinn, you can't go over there. I'm actually _forbidding _you to get in that car and drive to freaking Rachel Berry's house." _

_ She stared at the boy in front of her, crossing her arms over her chest and resting them on her baby bump. "And why is that?"_

_ "Because she's a liar and it's unfair." _

_ "You're a liar and you're unfair," Quinn shot back, going into the spare room to change into a pair of sweatpants and a giant t-shirt. "And besides, she needs her girls. Everyone needs to have their back up behind them, supporting them the whole time, I just so happen to be one of Rachel's." _

_ Puck sighed, letting his head fall against the door with a thud. "Yeah, but Quinn, she, like, manipulated us; she lied to us…" _

_ Quinn flung the door open, causing Puck to stumble slightly. "You lie all the time, Noah Puckerman." Puck gave Quinn a look with could make any girl swoon; the wide eyed, puppy dog look. "She needs support. She just lost her boyfriend, her best friend, and the person who throws Slushees in her face; it's been a pretty rough day for her." _

_ Puck let his head hang. "But she lied to us…" _

_ "Then you can go to your boys and have them cheer you up," Quinn said, getting tired of this 'We… Are the innocent ones,' act he had going. "Go use your fake IDs, buy beer, and get drunk than make the stupid decisions I know you're fond of making. Be the Noah Puckerman I know you are." _

_ She picked up her bag and started walking down the hall, heading toward the front door but Puck grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. "It's not as easy as that, Quinn. What Rachel did… That was just… That was not right." _

_ Quinn's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Puck, you're such a hypocrite." His brow creased. "You lie to girls, then sleep with them, then lie again and you're getting upset about a music video, a music video of all things, that Rachel made, using the three best singers in the group?" Puck let his head hang and Quinn's arm itched to reach out and stroke his cheek. "Why do you even care this much anyway?" she said, her voice soft and alluring. _

_ "Because… Because…" Quinn's eyebrows were raised as she saw Puck struggle for his words. "Because, she said it was just going to be me, then she used Finn and the Jesse kid as well." _

_ "Gosh, Puck, if I didn't know you were completely set on a relationship with me, I'd think you were in love with her…" Quinn said, amused. _

_ Puck gave her a small smile. "I feel deceived." _

_ Quinn's eyes rolled for the millionth time today. "Don't we all," she mumbled, wrapping an arm around Puck's neck and giving him a hug. "Get over it, Puckerman." _

_ Puck laughed in her ear, kissing her cheek before allowing her to flounce out of the house and to her car. He was about to go into his game room to play Halo, when Quinn came back into the house, a shameful look on her face. "What's going on, Fabray?" _

_ "I can't fit into my car… Will you drive me?" _

_ Puck froze, his eyes glued to hers. "No way in hell am I driving you." _

_ "I can't fit behind the wheel!" Quinn shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air. "Come on, Puck. Just drive me!" _

_ He shook his head. "No freaking way, Fabray. I'm not driving to her house." _

_ "It's not like you have to get out of the car," she said, huffing. "Come on, please?" _

_ She jutted out her bottom lip in a pout. Puck's mouth started to twitch as he tried not to cave. "Fine!" he snapped, grabbing his keys from the shelf near the door. "But I am _so _pissed at you, Quinn." _

_ She glared at him. "You're so immature!" she screamed, stomping out the door. Quinn climbed into his truck, slamming the door and crossing her arms over chest stubbornly. He climbed into the driver's side and turned the key, smiling to himself as the engine hummed to life. _

_ He gave her a cocky smile, his teeth flashing white at her in the setting sun. "I hate you," she mumbled, looking out the window. They began driving down the bumpy dirt road and Puck felt uncomfortable with the silence. He carefully slid his hand across the console to place it over her knee but she jerked away, glaring at him. _

_ "Don't. Touch. Me." _

_ Puck flinched away. "Damn, Quinn, what's with the hostility?" _

_ The blonde turned her head slowly to glare at him. "What?" she said darkly, her eyes turning almost black. He gave her a look that screamed 'You heard me.' "I cannot believe you, Puck. You are being so selfish! She just made a music video and you're acting like she was dating you, than slept with someone else. Not that that would be a problem; you do it all the time!" _

_ Puck's knuckles tightened around the steering wheel as he kept his anger inside, keeping himself from lashing out at her. "You're taking this too seriously," he whispered to her. _

_ Again, Quinn's jaw fell in shock. "Are you serious, Puck? _I'm _taking this too seriously?" Puck nodded. "You're pissed off at Rachel because she made a stupid music video and used you, Finn and Jesse. Get over yourself." _

_ Puck snorted. "Why are you being so defensive over her anyway, Quinn?" _

_ "I shouldn't have to tell you why, Puck. You should just know that girls stick together. We're the only thing she's got, she's the only thing I've got." _

_ Puck rolled his eyes. "Quinn, you don't even like Rachel; stop acting like you do." _

_ There was sudden silence in the car as Quinn iced Puck down with an acid stare. "Stop the truck," she hissed. _

_ He turned his head to look at her. "What?" Puck's voice was surprised and quiet. _

_ "Stop the truck," she said again, a little more annoyed then angry. He shook his head. _

_ "Nope." _

_ Quinn reached her hand over, grabbing his ear and digging her nail into it. "Noah Joseph Puckerman, you better stop this truck or I'll-" _

_ "You'll what?" he said, his voice slightly pained. "Rip off my ear?" He smirked at his wise ass answer. _

_ "Stop the fucking truck!" she screamed, opening the door before the wheels even stopped turning. Puck halted to a stop at her sudden, and scary, outburst and she hopped out of the car, supporting her baby bump with one arm as she hit the ground. Quinn grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder, slamming the door shut. "You're such a child," she growled at him before walking off the road and onto the side walk. _

_ Puck started to drive incredibly slow, keeping up with her motherly waddling. "Quinn, get back in the car," he called to her, rolling down the window so he could talk to her. She shook her head, keeping her eyes straight. "Come on, Quinn, seriously." _

_ "No!" she said, turning to face him, her hands placed on her hips. "You're so… Immature and self-centered. Can't you see that Rachel just wanted to be liked?" _

_ Puck's forehead creased as he stopped his truck, pulling onto the side of the road and climbing out. "What are you talking about?" he said, walking so close to her he had to tilt his whole chin down to look at her. _

_ Quinn sighed. "If she used just you, Finn would get jealous and Jesse would get jealous. She'd loose her boyfriend, best friend, and she'd only have you, but that wouldn't do her much good." Puck nodded, allowing her to go on. "If she used just Finn, you wouldn't care because you wouldn't have taken a part in it but Jesse would, again, get jealous and she'd loose her boyfriend. If she used Jesse, Finn would understand but he'd still be jealous she didn't use him even a little bit because they're friends and he loves her, so he'd drop her out of the picture. _

_ "Don't you see, Puck? If she used just one of you, she'd end up losing someone. Rachel thought the best solution was to use all three so things would be fair, but she just ended up with nothing. So, now, since all of you are being royal pricks, she's relying on us to keep her strong." _

_ Puck looked at the ground, digging his toe into the concrete. "And, don't say I don't care. I may not have taking a liking to Rachel, but when I got pregnant and I realized what it was like to be invisible, I started to see her side. That's why I'm sticking close to her, giving her support because I figure, if I give her support, she'll do the same for me. _

_ "And that's what girls need; support. So if you don't mind, I'd like to continue on to Rachel's house. Would you kindly move out of my way?" _

_ Puck didn't. Quinn, sighing, shoved past him and continued down the sidewalk. "Quinn, wait! I'll drive you to Rachel's house, just get in the truck!" _

_ She spun around, still walking. "Not until you truly see my side of the argument!" she called back, turning back around. _

_ She got no less than twenty feet before she hear Puck's truck come roaring up next to her. "Quinn Fabray, get in the car. Now." _

_ "You're not my father and I'm not listening to you." She took a deep breath. "You just don't get it Puck. Do you realize how stupid you're being? Getting upset over a music video. It's so… little and babyish." _

_ He turned a corner with her, running his hand over his Mohawk quickly. "I'm sorry, Quinn, just get in the car." _

_ Quinn was about to respond when a car behind Puck's truck honked it's horn, telling them to move faster. Puck jolted to a stop, sticking his head out the driver's window to look at the car behind him. "Shut the fuck up, you stupid Lexus!" he screamed, giving the driver an angry glare. "No one cares where you need to be. Just go around, lazy ass!" _

_ The car honked again but drove around the truck, flipping Puck off as it drove by. He nearly jumped out of his car and ran after the little hunk of metal, but he didn't. Instead, he just looked back to Quinn. "You were saying?" he said calmly and maturely. _

_ "I'll get back in the car when you apologize to Rachel." _

_ He made a face. "No freaking way, Fabray." _

_ "Than I'm not getting in the car," she said, walking again. _

_ This time, she got all the way to Rachel's house without Puck talking to her. Instead, he just drove slowly next to her the whole way. _

When Rachel opened her front door, Quinn dropped her bag on the floor and eloped Rachel in a hug, sobbing into the small brunette's shoulder.

**Kurt, Mercedes and Tina's reasoning's coming up soon. Please review. Not updating until I get at least twenty reviews. I don't mean to nag, but if you can favorite or subscribe to the story, you can press the 'Review this chapter' button right next to the little talking bubble. **

**Please and thank you! :) **


	4. Chapter 4

Out of everyone, Kurt and Mercedes were the second and third to arrive at Rachel house that evening. Like Quinn, they were frazzled, both equally as frazzled and annoyed.

_Mercedes and Kurt walked into this house so he could pack; they had already stopped by Mercedes' house and she was ready to go… Kurt on the other hand was a different story. _

_ "So, how amazing is my manicure?" Mercedes said, holding her hand out to him and he admired her pink, blue and silver sparkled nails. _

_ Kurt smiled, looking at her nails more closely. "They're fantastic, as always," he said, linking his arm around hers and walking around the corner. He stopped suddenly when he saw his father sitting in the living room, beer in hand, with the TV going. This, of course, wasn't such a shocking sight. What was shocking though, was the fact that sitting on the other end of the couch was Finn Hudson. _

_ "Hey, sport," Burt said, taking a sip from his beer. "Hello, Mercedes, good to see you again." _

_ The man stood up and gave Mercedes a small embrace. "Hello, Mr. Hummel. Nice to see you too." _

_ Kurt was still staring at Finn, his eyes wide. "Dad, what's he doing here?" Kurt said rudely, his eyes flashing to his father in disappointment. _

_ Burt looked over his shoulder at Finn who was lounging on the couch sadly, an IBC root beer bottle in his hand. "Oh, uh, the game was on… I know Finn likes football… And besides, Carole said that he needed a father figure to hang out with…" Kurt narrowed his eyes at his father. "Okay… Fine… He came over saying he was having some girl trouble and asked if he could talk about it…" _

_ Kurt and Mercedes' mouths fell open. "What?" his father said, running his hand over the back of his neck a few times. _

_ Kurt shook his head a few times. "Never mind. Cedes and I were just going down stairs to pack; a few of the girls and I are staying over Rachel Berry's house tonight…" Kurt said, flouncing toward the basement door with Mercedes following close behind. _

_ "Wait, say that again?" The two of them turned around to see Finn face them, his arms hanging over the back of the couch. _

_ Kurt gave him a confused look. "Um, some of the girls and I are sleeping over at Rachel's house?" _

_ "What the hell!" Finn shouted, shooting up from the couch. "Why?" _

_ Kurt was taken aback. "Finn, what is your problem?" Mercedes, though a tough girl, was cowering behind Kurt, scared at the look Finn was giving the two of them. "We're just going to sleep over. Have some girl time." _

_ Burt's eyes widened. "Kurt, son, you're not a girl." _

_ He gave his father a glare. "I know I'm not a girl!" he said, crossing his arms over his chest while his voice rose to a high offended tone. "But it's not like we need to worry about me scamming on them, so I thought it would be okay if I slept over, since there will be no troubles of boy/girl creeping!" _

_ Finn sputtered. "Why are you two going over there!? For a sleep over!" _

_ "Finn, relax, it's not like you need to be there. Why do you even care?" The tall boys stare was so deathly that Mercedes and Kurt flung his bedroom door and scampered down the steps to the basement. _

_ Mercedes' breath had picked up pace from fright and she paced a hand over her chest. "What is that boy's problem?" _

_ Kurt rolled his eyes, going to his closet for his giant overnight bag. "He's just… Emotional, I guess…" he said, opening it carefully on his bed and going to his dresser. Mercedes nodded as if to say, 'Oh, hell yeah,' just as Finn came thundering down the stairs. "Finn, what are you doing down here?" Kurt was bewildered and he started flitting around the room, trying to fix things and put them into his bag. _

_ "I'm down here to ask why you're going over to Rachel's house and for a sleep over, no less…" His voice was dark and almost threatening._

_ Mercedes, who wasn't as afraid anymore, sat down on Kurt's bed. "The girl needs some cheering up. She's been brought down low." _

_ Finn scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I should have guessed," he said, rolling his eyes furiously. "Of course you would side with her…" _

_ Kurt stood up straight from grabbing his pajamas out of the lowest drawer in his dresser. "Well, she kind of needs us, Finn. She doesn't really have any friends outside of glee…" Kurt trailed off, neatly folding the pajama pants and shirt into his bag. "And besides, you have your 'boys' to side with you," he said, bending his fingers in the air as finger quotations. "If we didn't side with Rachel, it would be unfair." _

_ Mercedes gave Kurt a sideways glare. "Hang on a minute boy," she said, sliding off the bed. "Are you saying you're only siding with Rachel because it would be unfair if you sided with Finn?" Mercedes pointed to the football player behind her. _

_ Kurt tsked his tongue once at her. "Cedes, you know I didn't mean it like that…" The dark girl crossed her arms over her chest, putting all her weight on one foot. "It's just that, well, come on, who would really side with Rachel if she had other people to lean on?" _

_ "Um, her friends," she said, her voice marinated in sass. "Come on, Kurt, you can't seriously be saying Rachel doesn't deserve support since these boys are being completely shitty to her." _

_ "Um, Mercedes, I'm still here," Finn said in a quiet voice. _

_ She snorted. "I know that, white boy, but you're being incredibly bitchy at the moment, so I'm not really taking your feelings into consideration," she said, giving him a disgusted look over her shoulder. Finn sighed. "So, Kurt, why are siding with Rachel?" _

_ "Yeah, why are you siding with Rachel?" Finn said, stepping up next to Mercedes. _

_ "You don't deserve to stand next to me, take a step back," she said quickly without even looking away from Kurt. _

_ "You don't even like her." Kurt stomped his foot once at Finn. "What man, you rave about her all the time; her horrible outfits, the way she won't shut up, how you hate when she takes over all the solos in glee… Seriously, man, you are like a living proof of why Rachel shouldn't be alive. Or at least, that's what you said to me," he said, giving him a satisfied smirk. _

_ Mercedes raised an eyebrow and Kurt's eyes looked everywhere, everywhere but Mercedes' eyes. "Well, I suppose… I guess I'm siding with her because- Because, well, because I feel bad about everything I said before…" Mercedes' face relaxed. "When I saw her get torn down from Puck, Jesse and you-" He pointed to Finn angrily, "-I suppose I just felt bad. I knew I cut her down, but not to her face… And seeing her get hurt in front of the whole glee club was just, well, sad… Okay, and I'm sorry for everything I said to her; I'm going to tell her that as soon as we get to her house if Finn doesn't lock us in my room from anger." _

_ Mercedes smiled, walking next to him and licking their arms together. "Alright, white boy, now tell us why you're so upset that we go over to Rachel's house." _

_ Finn huffed, running his fingers through his hair then rubbing the back of his neck. "Because she doesn't need support." Their eyebrows went up. "She… deserves to be upset." _

_ "Why, because you are?" _

_ Finn looked at Mercedes. "No, not because I'm upset, but because she used us… She manipulated us and it's not fair." _

_ Kurt shook his head, looking at the floor. "Finn Hudson, can't you understand that everyone needs support, no matter what they've done to hurt someone else?" The boy's forehead creased in confusion. "Even though she upset both you, Puck and Jesse, she was also hurt when she lost the three boys closest to her; a bully, a best friend and a _boy _friend. It's been rough for her." _

_ "But, she hurt us, too…" Finn said, his voice quiet and sad. "She lied to us." _

_ Mercedes and Kurt felt a small surge of sadness for the boy, but then they both stood up straight. "But, Finn, you have your friends to help you out; Mike, Matt, Artie, Jesse—who'll understand what you're feeling—even Puck although you two aren't really talking anymore. Me and Cedes are just going to cheer up Rachel with a few other girls, same as you have your boys." _

_ Finn's forehead creased even more. "Please, please for the love of God, tell me that Quinn isn't going." They gave him looks of confusion. "If Quinn's going, she'll probably manipulate Rachel into hating me and she'll never talk to me again…" _

_ Mercedes' jaw fell open. "You're feeling the same way about her…" The corners of Finn's mouth turned down. "So, just relax," she said as Kurt zipped up his bag and tossing it onto his shoulder. "You're all over reacting about this whole thing." _

_ "But, she-" _

_ "We don't wanna hear it," the two friends chorused as the trotted up the stairs, through the living room and out to Kurt's car. _

_ "Boys are so immature." _

_ Kurt raised as eyebrow at Mercedes. "Ahem…" _

_ She smiled. "Okay, football players are so immature." _

_ "I hear that," he said before pulling out of his driveway and speeding off to Rachel's house. _

When they both reached her place, just like Quinn, they dropped their bags and embraced her in hugs, but they didn't cry. Instead, Rachel did.

**Okay, girls and possibly boys, that was chapter four. I hope you liked it. Please review and check out my other story about Puck and Quinn that parallels this story! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Out of all of them, Tina was, of course, the last to arrive at Rachel's house, more annoyed than anyone.

_Tina was bustling around her house, trying to find a phone. She knew that her parents were at work and that they wouldn't allow her to go over to Rachel's housel it was family night. _

_ As she was about to dial Rachel's number, the doorbell rang. Tina sigh, tossed the phone onto the couch and walked to the entry way. After glancing though the peep-hole, she creased her forehead in confusion. "What are _you _doing here?" she said as she opened the door. _

_ The boy gave her a sly sneer. "That's a great way to open the door," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. _

_ "I could see you through the peep-hole. I knew it was you." He nodded and Tina found it annoying that he was at her house. "What are you doing here? You don't even live near me, Jesse." _

_ He sighed. "I'm here to simply let you know your options." _

_ Tina's mouth fell open slightly and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Huh?" _

_ "I heard from a few people that you and three of your other friends are staying at Rachel's house tonight." Tina's cell phone rang and she held up one newly manicured and partially laced finger to him. He nodded understandingly and she opened the text message. _

**Quinn, 'Cedes and I were harassed by Puck and Finn about going 2 Rach's house. If approached by them OR Jesse, DO NOT LISTEN! Be the fierce girl you are! –Kurt **

_Tina texted back a quick O.K. before looking to Jesse angrily. "Were those people you heard from either Puck or Finn?" Jesse stepped into her house. "Yeah, sure, come on in," she said sarcastically, shutting the door. "So… Was it Finn or Puck?" _

_ "Who I heard it from is none of your concern. I just wanted to tell you that I feel very strongly about you going to Rachel's house."_

_ "I bet it was Finn," she said in a concluding voice, planting her hands on her hips. _

_ Jesse rolled his eyes. "Again, none of your concern." _

_ Tina gave him a hard stare, the black make-up around her eyes making the glare more dark and acid as she tried to be as fierce as she could. It is my business if you're saying you 'feel strongly' about me going to have some fun with my friends," she said, bending her fingers in as quotations, her voice as dark as her eyes. "What are you, my father?" _

_ Jesse gave her a small smile. "No, Tina, I'm not your father, I'm just saying that maybe you shouldn't hang out with Rachel." _

_ Tina's forehead creased. "What… What do you mean?" _

_ He shrugged. "I mean that Rachel, she's not someone you wanna hang out with. She's, like, a liar." _

_ At that, Tina discretely reached for her cell phone, typing a 'Danger! St. James alert!' message to Kurt. "Okay, well, Jesse, thank you for the insight, it was fantastic, but I'm not going to Rachel's house anyway." He gave her a confused look. "It's family night." _

_ Jesse nodded, running a hand through his hair. "Good," he sighed, satisfied, before muttering, "cause she's an aggravating know it all." _

_ Tina's phone went off in her pocket but she didn't reach for it. Instead, she stared at Jesse. "That's unfair…" Her words were slow and quiet. _

_ "But it's true," he said, pointing an accusing finger at her. _

_ She gave him a blank faced look. "You're only saying that because of the Run Joey Run video. If you hadn't broken up, you wouldn't even be thinking that. I _know _you wouldn't have said that otherwise." _

_ He snorted, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Oh, come on, Tina. You know it's true. You've seen her in glee club longer than I have." _

_ "That maybe true, but I wouldn't tell her that." He rolled his eyes again. "And she's not bad at all when she's only with a few people. She's relatively normal," Tina whispered, slowly reaching into her pocket. _

_ "Yeah, well, I'm glad to be rid of her. She was taking over my life, practically destroying it. Do you know what she would do?" _

**Evacuate! Evacuate! Take immediate action! –Kurt **

_She nodded. "I'm sure I don't know what she would do, but I don't have time to listen. You need to leave. Right now." _

_ "Why?" _

_ "Because I have to pack. I'm going to Rachel's." _

_ She headed down the hall to her room to get a bag and some clothes. "You said you weren't going over to her house!" he called to her, following down the hall. _

_ This time, Tina rolled her eyes. "Yes, well, you shouldn't even care, Jesse St. James," she said, grabbing a black, white and yellow Vera Bradley bag and tossing a skirt and shirt into it. "You've broken up with her. Don't bother with who hangs out with her." _

_ He leaned against the door frame. "All my friends are hanging out with her." _

_ She snorted. "All your friends are at Carmel High, probably practicing their latest glee number. Why don't you go join them?" she sneered, putting a pair of red and black striped leggings in the bag. _

_ "Because I go to McKinley...?" She shook her head. "And maybe they are practicing their latest number, so all of my available friends are hanging out with her." _

_ Tina turned to face him. She kept her expression blank, trying not to show the annoyance that was bubbling up under her skin. "Jesse, you never talked to us," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "If you want to be with 'available' friends, go find the boys. They've all been 'betrayed' like you. At least, Puck and Finn have." _

_ He let out of burst of air; an irritated sigh. "Okay, will you stop doing this-" He bent his fingers in the air "- and just listen to me?" _

_ Tina grabbed a piece of paper from her desk and scribbled 'At Rachel Berry's. She's having boyfriend problems. There for support,' before tossing her bag over her shoulder. "Wish I could, but I don't want to. I have to go to Rachel's house and you need to leave." She walked past him, taping the note to the wall in front of the door. "Come on, Jesse, leave." _

_ She grabbed her car keys before shooing him out of the house like an annoying cat. "You're making a mistake," he called to her as she flounced over to her black Mini Cooper on the driveway. _

_ Tina climbed into the car. "No, you're just being difficult." _

_ "She lied to me! Her boyfriend! Using other people in a music video, then not telling anyone? She's such a bit-" _

_ "Don't… Finish that sentence," she warned, climbing back out of the car. "Rachel didn't think she was doing anything wrong. It's not my business to speak for her, but all of you are being unfair, especially you! Trying to persuade her friends to not hang out with her? What an asshole move!" _

_ "You're as much of a friend with her as I am with you!" _

_ Tina's face flushed red. "You have no right to say that. I've known her longer. I'm used to her impossible rants and bossing around-"_

_ "So am I," he interrupted. _

_ "I'm friends with her, Jesse. You can't say that I'm not because you don't know what goes on inside our heads. And maybe I'm not best friends with her, but even if I was, you're also trying to persuade me to not hang out with Kurt and Mercedes and Quinn, who I'm even better friends with, cause they're going too, so take that stick out of your ass and get over yourself. She didn't know she was doing anything wrong. She didn't know that was going to happen." He sighed, digging the heel of his sneaker into the driveway. "Now, get off my property. I have to go." _

_ Tina got into her car and drove off, pulling out her cell phone. _

**Just got harassed. On my way. **

_She sighed, placing her phone in the cup holder, not picking it up again until she got to Rachel's. _

When the door was opened, all five of them eloped each other in a group hug.

"Thank you," Rachel whispered. "So much."


	6. Chapter 6

Mercedes flounced into Rachel's living room, carrying four bottles of Coke and a bowl of popcorn. They were all settled on the floor, surrounded by what seemed to be thousands of pillows, couch cushions and blankets. Rachel and Kurt were snuggled up together, wrapped in a giant blanket like a butterfly in a cocoon. Her right arm was tucked under his left arm, linked together while Tina sat directly across from them, leaning against the wall as the two of them were resting against a side of the 'L' shaped couch.

Mercedes settled herself on the other side of the 'L' couch, creating a right angle between Rachel, Kurt and Tina. Quinn came down from the upstairs bathroom, fixing her ponytail as she slowly lowered herself across from Mercedes, crossing her legs before laying a blanket over her. "SO, Rachel, how are you feeling?" she asked, grabbing a hand full of popcorn and tossing a few kernels into her mouth.

Rachel smiled, snuggling closer to Kurt. "I think I'm okay, now that I have you guys with me…" They all smiled and Kurt rested his head on hers. "I just- I never thought that you would go against Finn, Jesse, and Puck; I thought you hated me."

Everyone looked at the floor shamefully. "Rachel," Quinn said quietly, her voice in a slight waver. The brunette looked at her curiously. "I'm so sorry. I should have treated you differently when I was a Cheerio, even when I was kicked off. I- You've been nothing but nice to me and I treated you like shit… I'm so sorry."

Rachel leaned over Kurt and took the blonde's hand squeezing it once. "It's okay, Quinn."

She shook her head. "It's not. I was so awful and I'm only seeing it now when the people who are closest to me are treating you the way I did; it's so hard for me to watch you be treated like this and to know that I was doing the same thing no less than a week ago…." Rachel's lips pursed into a straight line. "I just wish I could have done something different."

Rachel let out a choked laugh. "I just want to put it all in the past. I have you guys now and I know that's all that counts."  
~*~

Over the weekend, after the others had left, Quinn stayed behind to spend another night. Rachel invited her over for a little while longer for some one-on-one talk time. Quinn eagerly accepted.

They were now sitting in Rachel's room, Quinn leaning against a post at the end of the bed while Rachel was rested against the headboard. A large pizza was in front of them and neither of them took a piece, waiting for it to cool.

"You know what I've been thinking?" Quinn said as she took a sip from her seventh bottle of Coke that night. Rachel averted her eyes from the pizza to look at Quinn. "Why was I such a bad person to you? We used to be best friends."

Rachel smiled. "Well, when Santana came to the Elementary school, we sort of drifted apart..." she said, pulling some cheese off the crust and popping it into her mouth. "Then, when Brittney came in eighth grade, we grew apart completely."

Quinn nodded slowly. "I suppose... But we would have so much fun when we were younger."

"Remember the time when you squirted a whole thing of super glue into Jacob Ben Israel's chair in second grade and he got stuck?" Rachel giggled out, biting her lip.

"Ooh! I loved in fourth grade when we were planning to vandalize Puck's tree house but you got caught on the fence and his dad had to help you down." Rachel blushed. "You had a rip all the way up your skirt. His mom had to sew it while you stood there in a pair of his jeans!" Quinn laughed, wiping away tears.

Rachel smiled, pulling a slice of pizza out of the box. "That's not as bad as the time when we were biking past Finn's house and they threw paint balloons at us. They got one on your head and your hair was tinted purple for a week and a half," she said, smiling triumphantly at Quinn.

"But I always regretted losing you as a friend. Santana and Brittney never did the things you did. They didn't make me laugh to make me do stupid things that ended up being really fun. I got just got into trouble. I bet you a thousand dollars that if I had stayed friends with you, I wouldn't have gotten pregnant." Rachel chewed her pizza slowly. "I always wish I'd stayed friends with you, all the time. Even if it meant making you be a Cheerio, or making me be like-"

"Me."

"I just, Rachel, I'm-"

The small girl interrupted her. "Forget it. We're friends now and that's what counts. Have some pizza."

As the two girls were just about to grab the last pieces of pizza, Rachel heard a key in the door. They both froze. "Rachel!?" She looked to the door slowly. "Rachel, we're home!"

Slowly, the two girls rose from the bed and walked down the hall to the top of the stairs. Her two fathers were standing there with their suitcases and shopping bags. "Hi, Daddy," she said, hugging the two men. "Dad, Daddy, you remember Quinn Fabray, don't you?"

She looked back to the blonde who was descending the stairs cautiously. Quinn stood next to Rachel. "Of course we do! Quinn, so good to see you!" One of Rachel's fathers embraced her tightly. "And what's this? A baby? Well, congratulations, Quinn, darling."

"...Oh, um, thank you, Mr. Berry," she said, smiling as best she could through her fear.

He waved his hand once. "Please, call me Lyle. He's Mr. berry."

Lyle nodded to his partner, who stuck out his hand. "And you can call me Michael," he said in a formal voice. "I think you've known me long enough to be past that stage of calling me Mr. Berry." She shook his hand. "I think it's wonderful you're pregnant. Boy or girl?"

"Oh, a girl." They smiled. "But I'm not keeping her."

Michael and Lyle nodded slowly. "Well, that's okay. You're young, what, sixteen? Rachel's cousin recently had a baby and had to give him up, but she's going to keep in contact with him," Michael said, his hand squeezing Quinn's softly. "But you'll be fine. Rachel's mother was a teen mom as well, she was very brave. I know you're a strong girl. You can do it."

Quinn's chin quivered. She then stepped toward Michael, wrapping her arms around his middle. Everyone froze-Michael wasn't a very touchy-feely man, but after a moment, he rested his arms, embracing her tightly and soon, Quinn began to cry.

The two girls were now sitting in front of the fireplace, wrapped up in blankets while sipping hot chocolate; it was March and there was rain pouring down the windows like a waterfall over rocks.

"I believe what my dad said, Quinn," Rachel whispered over the rim of her mug. "You're strong. You'll be able to give up the baby."

Quinn shrugged, licking the melted marshmallow off her top lip. "I guess, but Puck will never agree to it. He wants me to keep her. Even his mom does..."

"Well, I can have a little chat with him, I suppose," she said, giggling once into her hot chocolate.

"He's not talking to anyone except the boys." Rachel brow furrowed. "Because of the... The thing?"

Rachel nodded slowly. "Of course." Quinn made an annoyed face. "I suppose I should apologize to him about that." Quinn chewed on her lip. "I mean, I was a little unfair to all of them."

"No, no, you weren't. I'm not trying to keep you from saying sorry, but, they're just being jerks. You just put them in a music video, it's not like you made out with all of them and announced it to the world."

Rachel snorted. "Thank God. Jesse would never forgive me if I did." Quinn nodded solemnly. "But I feel like I should, sort of, well, not win them back, but, ugh, you know what I mean?"

"Oh, yes, I do know." Quinn smiled deviously. "And I know exactly who you should go to for help..."

"And that's why Batman isn't a real super hero."

It was Monday morning when Mike Chang and Matt Rutherford were sitting in the court yard during their first period block, a study in which neither of them cared about. They were perched on the stone wall, the tips of their toes nowhere near the ground as they discussed the issue of Batman.

"Just because Batman doesn't have any super powers doesn't mean he's not a super hero," Matt said, taking a giant bite of his TLC bar before taking a swig from this Gatorade bottle filled with water.

Mike nodded. "Yes it does. If Superman gets shot he doesn't even get a scratch, nothing at all. Batman's tights aren't going to protect him from a speeding bullet." Matt's head hung low as he let out a long sigh. "And what is the deal with Robin? Am I the only one who wonders what happens in that mansion when they're showing what, like, The Joker or the Riddler are up to. I'm pretty sure those two dudes wear tights because they're pleasurable to themselves..."

Matt's mouth fell open in shock. "Mike, you can so plainly see that Robin is working for Batman because he has a crush on his boss..."

"No one volunteers for a job like that."

As Matt began to counter what Mike had just said, a small figure came sauntering up to them, stopping in front of the stone wall. They looked down at her. "Hi," they said at the same time, smiling hugely and showing their teeth.

She waggled her fingers. "Hello, boys." Her voice was almost as small as she was, barely a whisper in the breeze.

"Would you like to join us in our discussion on whether or not Batman is a real super hero or not. I'm sure you'd be outstanding when it comes to debate," Mike said, reaching his hand down to her, offering to pull her up onto the wall.

"As much as I'd love too, I can't. I just needed to ask you two a question," Rachel said in an unsure tone, fiddling with her fingers as the sleeves to her baggy sweater fell over her hands. They looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "I need help. You are the only people who will be willing to offer your assistance when it comes to understanding the next few things I'm going to be asking you about."

Mike's forehead creased. "What do you mean?"

Rachel looked at them for a moment, thinking, then answered. "I mean, you two have been known the school to reign amongst all who attend William McKinley High. You're the, and I quote straight from Finn, 'The ninjas of the mind'."

The two boys nodded. "Guilty as charged. What can we help you with, Miss Berry?"

She was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I need some assistance with my Jesse, Noah, Finn … Issue." They nodded slowly. "I need you to help me win them back."

**There. Hope you liked it. The people who I pictured as Rachel's dads are on my picture blog. Link on my profile. Please review. They make for faster updates. Seriously. **


	7. Chapter 7

**I present to you chapter seven. Please enjoy… I know we all love Mike Chang, don't we. ;) **

"Okay, it's not that hard, Rachel," Mike whispered in her ear, his hands placed firmly on her shoulders. "All you have to do is tell him what he wants to know."

She glared at him over her shoulder. "But that means telling him I'm going to sleep with him." He shook his head. "Then what is it? Please, Michael, enlighten me in the ways of Noah Puckerman. Go ahead… Tell me."

Mike smiled. "You'll know." He looked up. "There he is. Go."

He pushed Rachel's back, making her stumbling across the hallway and into Puck. "Sorry," she mumbled, running a hand through her hair. Rachel looked up at Puck, biting her lip when she saw the frown that was cast upon his face. His eyebrow was arched up to nearly his hairline and his eyes had shadows, making them seem black. "I- Can… Can I say something?"

"Not if that something is 'Run Joey, Run', 'I didn't mean to', or 'I wasn't doing anything wrong'."

Rachel looked down at her shoes. "It's not that." Puck remained silent, waiting for her to continue. "It's just that- Well, I'm sorry, Noah. I should have taken your feelings into account when I made that video, and I didn't. I'm deeply regretful."

"That's a load of crap," he said, snorting.

She let out a sigh. "Noah, I-"

"Are you done? I need to get to my next class."

He pushed right past her without waiting for an answer. "Noah, you're… I understand that you're mad and you have every right to be. If you weren't so… badass, I don't think I'd understand why you were so upset. And you also have nice arms."

He froze in his place, his legs in mid-step. He spun on his heel and marched back over to Rachel. "Okay, I get is," he said in a hushed and rushed tone. "You want the two of us to get over this little spat thing we've got going on here… And I don't blame you." She bit her lip. "You're forgiven-" Rachel's eyes lip up and wandered to Mike, who was now doing a mini victory dance "-But…" The dance stopped. "You have to do something for me."

"Of course, anything." Mike was waving his arms frantically, his face frozen in desperate shock as she tried to get Rachel's attention.

Puck nodded, his face serious. "I- Talk to Quinn for me. Tell her that everything's cool between us and shit because she'd never, like, believe me."

"Right, I will, Noah." She stood up on her toes, kissing his cheek. She had her hand placed on his bicep, just to add effect, because, secretly—and she'd never admit this to anyone—she did think his muscles were pretty attractive.

After a second, Puck flashed her a quick smile and headed off to his class, his original destination. Rachel stood there, smiling proudly to herself then turned and ran to Mike. "We did it!"

He scrambled her up in a hug, her toes dangling near the floor. "_You _did it. And may I say, it was epic. Spider man couldn't have done a better job, Rachel," he said, hugging her tighter.

At that moment, Jesse walked past them and Mike put her down, his forehead creasing. "Jesse, this is not what it looks like, I promise you."

"Not even a week and you've already moved on," he said in a sarcastically cheerful voice. "You continue to surprise me, Rachel."

He started walking away. "Wait, Jesse-" He rounded the corner and she was cut off. "Ugh, my God. Boys are immature."

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I didn't know that-"

She cut him off. "It's not your fault. Boys are just born that way, I suppose. If they're immature, then, well…"

He laughed once. "No, I mean I didn't know that Jesse would react that way. If I knew, I wouldn't have done that." Rachel's lips curved into a smile. "It's just, like, you know."

"Yes, I do now. But, it's quite alright, Michael. You don't need to worry about anything," she said, smiling even wider.

Mike nodded sternly. "Oh, good. And you're right. Boys are immature."

She made a face at him. "Michael, you're a boy."

"No, I'm not."

Rachel's face lit in surprise. "Oh? I could have sworn you were." He smiled. "So, if you're not a boy, then what are you?" He didn't answer her for a moment, a slow grin spreading across his face like butter on toast.

"I'm a ninja."

**The shortest of short chapters. :) REVIEW EVERYONE! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright, here's chapter eight for all y'all. I hope you like the story so far. :) If you haven't read it already, that is. If you have read it, skip on down to the last chapter, because that's a brand new one! :) **

It was about time for glee practice... Everyone was regretting it—even Mr. Schuster—who was walking as slow as he could to the choir room.

Rachel was, of course, the first on there, and she was sitting smack in the middle of the makeshift stage that was against the wall. There were twelve chairs around her, all of them empty. She was fine with that. She wanted some time to think. She _needed _some time to think. Everything was better with Puck, she knew that for sure because, honestly, if they weren't, why did he let her kiss his cheek? It's all there. Rachel sighed and continued on with her wondering. She knew for a fact that Finn was going to be a difficult person to have to apologize to. He was sensitive and caring, thoughtful and polite, but when it came to forgiving and forgetting, he was mean, rude and as subtle as a gun when showing anger.

She was just about to find a way to get him to forgive her when Puck plopped himself in the seat next to her. His hands were resting on his thighs as he lazily leaned back on the plastic chair. "So... When are you going to tell Quinn that everything's all good between us?"

"I don't know, when she's here, why?"

He shrugged, running a hand over his Mohawk. "No reason... I just hate when she's mad at me..." Rachel smiled. "No, not like that, Berry. When she's mad, she doesn't talk to me. I hate that."

She nodded slowly, noting that Quinn came marching into the room, carefully setting herself down in the chair on Rachel's other side, giving Puck a sly glare. "Hey, Rach," she said cheerfully when her direction was turned to the small brunette.

"Hey, Quinn..." Puck subtly poked her hip and she jumped slightly, sighing with impatience. "Quinn, I just wanted to tell you that everything is better between Noah and I. We're not fighting anymore."

The blonde's eyebrow shot into the air. "Oh, really?" she leered skeptically. Rachel nodded. "So, he apologized to you, did he?"

Puck froze, his face falling into the saddest look Rachel had ever seen anyone give her. It made her want to cry. She almost did cry, but she held herself. "Um... Yeah, he did. He apologized to me," she said with a very convincing tone to her voice.

Quinn's eyebrow shot up. "Oh? ...What did he say?"

"Uh... Um..." Rachel stuttered, glancing at Puck for a moment, scared.

"I said that I was being a colossal ass and that I was overreacting and I was really sorry for making her upset."

A smile spread across Quinn's face, one of relief and satisfaction. "Well, I know you're lying..." Puck and Rachel slumped in their chairs. "...But, I'm not mad at you anymore, Puck... I'm over it."

"Really?"

Quinn rose from her chair and stepped around Rachel to press her lips against Puck's. He was surprised, shocked even. Although Quinn was living in his house and they were sort of in a relationship since they were having a baby, they'd never addressed that it was such a thing. She just made it official, he supposed. At that moment, Finn walked into the choir room, a sickening look spreading over his face as he looked at his best friend and his ex-girlfriend kissing in front of him.

"Everybody, let's have a seat." The four of them jumped as Mr. Schuster came marching into the room with the rest of the glee club following close behind. "I have a new assignment for the week, just give me a minute to photocopy these and I'll be back in a few."

Everyone shuffled to their seats, all of them giving Rachel different looks; a range of soft smiles and mini ninja poses. It all made her laugh. "Hey, Rachel," Mercedes said, leaning forward in her seat so she could speak to the small brunette. "My mom's having a party on Friday night and she said to invite who ever I wanted. You wanna come?"

"Who... Who's going to be there?" she said in an uncertain voice, turning in her chair and looking up at Mercedes.

She was quiet for a moment. "Eh, not a lot of people; you, me, Kurt, the girls, I might invite Santana and Brittney, but I'm not sure... So, can you come?"

Rachel nodded and was about to say something when Mr. Schuster came waltzing back in the the choir room. "Okay, guys, so I've been thinking about doing the assignment for about three weeks, I just never got a round to it." He walked to the whiteboard, picking up a dry erase marker and scribbling something down on the board. _Idol. _"What do you think of when you see or hear this word?"

Kurt instantly answered. "Madonna."

"Aretha Franklin," Mercedes said after him.

Rachel followed after with "Barbra Streisand."

Mr. Schuster nodded. "Alright guys, these are good... Uh, Puck? What about you? What's an idol for you? Maybe your Dad? He was a singer, right?"

"Yeah," Puck said, his voice cold and hard. "But not an idol to me." Mr. Schuster looked at him expectantly. "Aerosmith, dude. They've got some pretty hardcore stuff. Have you _heard _Dream On? That's epic as shit, man."

"Alright, that's good, that's good." Mr. Schuster looked around the room. "Has anyone seen Jesse? Is he not in school today?

"Uh, I saw him earlier," Finn said, shaking his hand through his hair. "But, I'm pretty sure he left. He went to the nurse during math looking like he was going to barf..."

Rachel was silent. "Oh, alright," Mr. Schuster said, dismissing the subject as if it weren't a big deal. He looked to Quinn. "What about you?"

She didn't answer. She just sat there for a moment, , chewing on her bottom lip. A few minutes passed by until she came up with an answer. "I have to say that, for me, I'm a big fan of Simon and Garfunkel. When I first found out I was pregnant, I listened to Bridge Over Troubled Water. I felt it very helpful through the difficult times and I still listen to it when I feel sad or something..."

They all looked at her with soft faces, Rachel reaching over and squeezing her and lightly. "I like them, too," she said quietly and Quinn smiled.

The room was silent after Quinn gave her excerpt on her idol, or in her case, idols. No one knew what to say after her sad story. "Well, everyone, this is what I want to do. You have to pick your favorite song by that artist, or idol and you have to perform it by the end of the week." Everyone did small cheers, highfiving each other and nodding their heads. "But, I want this to be _big. _You should dress like your idol and try to show us how connected you are with this person. Do your best to tell us how this person, or idol, has changed your outlook on life."

"Uh, Mr. Schuster, we don't have to come to school wearing these outfits, do we?" Tina suddenly said, an unsure look on her face. "I think that if I come to school dressed as Lady Gaga, I'll get more than a Slushee thrown in my face."

"Nope, just for practice..." Everyone sighed, relieved. "But... I _do _think that there will be a little surprise at the end of this... Maybe."

The bell rang and everyone started standing up to leave. "I want you planning and I want a copy of the sheet music on my desk by Wednesday, people! Wednesday! This means you've got two days!"

Everyone got up, throwing their backpacks over their shoulders and chattering about who they wanted to base their assignment off of. Rachel was silent and just jingled her car keys in her hand as she headed to the parking lot. She was stopped on the way, a hand placed on her shoulder. Rachel stopped and turned around, looking at the tall, lanky boy behind her.

"Michael, hello."

"I wanted to give you my skype name," he said, holding out a folded piece of paper to her. "Skype it a very handy way for plotting, since the plotters don't have to be in the same room, but they can look at each other."

She took the paper from him and tucked it into the pocket of her jeans. "Thank you. That's very helpful."

"I will see you tomorrow, young grasshopper," he said, pressing his hands together and holding them by his chest as he bowed to her. "Namaste."

Rachel smiled at his ridiculousness, but did the same, before climbing into her car and going home.  
~*~

Jesse sat in his bedroom, wearing his pajamas. "I missed glee practice..." he said to himself, looking up pathetically when his mother came in and placed a tray on his night table; a bowl of soup, a mug of tea with lemon and honey and dry toast.

His mother kissed his forehead, stroking his hair before she sat down on the bed. "Jesse, sweetie, do you want to talk about it?" she said in a small voice, holding her hands tightly in his. Jesse, in all stubbornness, shook his head. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Mom," he said in a rough voice, clearing his throat before wincing painfully. "I'm okay."

She bit her lip, looking at her son for a moment before standing again. "Well, okay. I'm going to run to the store and get some cold foods for your throat. Is there anything in particular you want?"

"Popsicles," he called to her as she left the room.

"Ooh, yes, Popsicles... Anything else?"

He could tell she was already half out the door when he called out, "Ice cream!" The front door slammed shut and then Jesse was alone in his bedroom. "And I wanna get back at her..." He paused for a moment. "...I wanna get back at Rachel Berry."


	9. Chapter 9

** It's been a long time, hasn't it? Yes, yes, it has. Well, that doesn't matter. On with the story! This chapter is going to be kind of short, but it was necessary. **

That night, Rachel logged onto her Skype and searched for Mike_Chang2.0. There was only one, with a thumbnail of Mike in a ninja outfit, so, she could only assume that it was him. Selecting the name and sending a connection request, Rachel only had to wait three seconds before it was accepted. Five seconds later, her computer started ringing.

"Grasshopper," Mike greeted, bowing his head to her.

"Master," Rachel said, doing the same.

Mike stroked his imaginary beard. "You know, jedi, I've been pondering for a while, and I must ask you… Why are you so intent on winning back the affection of these men?"

Rachel bit her lip for a moment. "Well, they're my friends and- And my boyfriend. I care about all of them very much, you know, and it hurts not having them in my life."

"Touché," Mike said, snapping chopsticks in the air a few times.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing?"

"There's a fly in my room. I'm trying to catch it."

"Okay, Mr. Miyagi," she said with a laugh, starting in on the dinner her father had brought up for her.

Mike froze, his chopsticks in the air. "You know movies?" She nodded once as she popped a cherry tomato into her mouth. "Let us test your skills, grasshopper…"

Rachel bounced down the hallway. She didn't know why. Her life was nearly falling apart around her. She didn't have her boyfriend, or her best friend. The only one she did have was Puck, and he didn't count because he just wanted to hear that he had nice arms. Which she'll admit, he did. And she had told him, so their communication was over and done with until the next time she needed to get him back on her side.

So, as she headed to the theatre, she tried to figure out why it was she was that she was so happy. Maybe it was because she had her drama class now.

Rachel loved drama. Not the social kind, the acting kind. She'd starred in nearly every theatre program in Lima and, aside from singing, it was her biggest passion. She loved the stage, the feeling of everyone watching you. Now, of course people did that for singing, but in acting, there was more chemistry on stage. More interaction with everybody, not just the person you were soloing with.

So, when she reached the theatre, she threw the doors open and waltzed in, placing herself daintily in one of the comfortable chairs in the front row. The drama teacher wasn't there yet, but other students were, some of them texting, others on their phones, some just sitting there. Out of the corner of her eyes, Rachel could see Jesse sitting calmly at the very end of the row she was sitting in.

Mercedes and Kurt were in her class too, but she knew they always sat near the back so they could talk, so Rachel just sat, her legs crossed at the knee and her hands placed in her lap, her thumbs twirling around each other.

"I'm walking in from backstage," a woman said, her high heels clicking on the wood stage. Everyone who was standing started scuttling around, finding seats next to their friends before the teacher came in. "I'm about to come around the corner, and…" She appeared from behind one of the red curtains. "Hello, everyone. Nice to see you this afternoon."

Rachel flashed a huge smile. The teacher flashed one back. "How was everyone's weekends?" she said, sitting on the edge of the stage and crossing her legs. The class was quite, everyone looking at the ground or at the teacher awkwardly. "Come on, guys, how was your weekend. Um… Mr. Hummel, what did you do?"

"I hung out with friends," he said, high fiving Mercedes and blowing a kiss to Rachel.

Ms. Jenson nodded. "Good, good." She got back up on stage. "Alright, well, I have news for you," the teacher said, hooking one thumb on her jean loop. "Do you remember how you all said that you wanted to do Romeo and Juliet?" There was some chatter and Ms. Jenson smiled as she started checking off the attendance. "Yes, I know, it's all very exciting," she said, dropping the clipboard and holding up her hands to quiet them. "I don't want to have auditions or anything. This is more a class thing."

"What do you mean, a class thing?" Mercedes said, sitting forward in her chair.

Ms. Jenson ran a hand through her hair. "We're doing this for the class, and for a grade. Yes, we will be performing it for people, but that's not the sole purpose of this." Everyone was silent. "It's worth fifty percent of your grade."

Everyone began talking then, all of them shouting about how it wasn't fair and that it shouldn't be such a big part of their grade. "No, Ms. Jenson, that's not fair! You know we wanted to do this for a while! How can you do that!?" That's all that Rachel heard. She was the only one that was quiet, playing with the end of her skirt.

"Okay, okay!" Ms. Jenson said, running a hand through her hair. "Come on, guys, quiet down." There were a few people who stopped, but other's kept going, making the teacher sigh and roll her eyes. "Alright, guys?!" Still they kept going. "_Guys!_" she shouted, grabbing everyone's attention.

Everyone stopped and looked at her. "I know that you guys have wanted to do this for a while. You wouldn't be here if you didn't, that's why you chose this class, but Romeo and Juliet is a major piece. It deserves the best attention and work, so, if you want to do it, you'll have to work for it." When no one responded, she gave a firm nod. "And so, because it's part of class, I'm not having auditions. Is everyone alright with that?"

The students looked around at each other, but said nothing so Ms. Jenson continued. "Alright, well, if everyone's alright with it, then I don't want to hear complaining about parts. Absolutely none at all, clear?" They all nodded. "Okay." Ms. Jenson sat down on the edge of the stage again, bringing her clipboard close to her and looking at it. "Alright, so, I have all the parts cast, but I'm only going to be calling a few, because that's who I'll be working with today. Kurt, you'll be Tybalt; Mercedes will be Lady Capulet, Matt will be Lord Capulet, Brittany will be Lady Montague, Artie will be Lord Montague, Rachel will be Juliet and Jesse will be Romeo."

There was a silence. From the other end of the row, Rachel could hear Jesse tapping his fingers on the arm rest. In the back, she could hear Mercedes and Kurt mumbling something incoherent. "The rest of you can go, thank you."

As everyone started filing out of the theatre, Rachel and Jesse stayed in their seats. "Alright, everyone, up on stage," Ms. Jenson said, sweeping her arm toward the stage so they would start to move.

Kurt, Mercedes, Matt, Brittany and Artie did, but Rachel and Jesse stayed still. "Rachel? Is something there something wrong? You're always the first one up on stage, but now you won't even move. Did something happen?"

"Yes, something happened." The two women turned to look at Jesse. "Something _has _happened."

Ms. Jenson crossed her legs at the knees and cleared her throat. "And what has happened, Mr. St. James? Did Rachel do something wrong? Did something wrong happen to Rachel? Because when I walked in here she was the same smiling girl I always see, and there's no way you could possibly have known what happened to her in the ten minute span we were in here, since you were sitting all the way at the other end of the row." The brunette stifled a giggle. "Now, why don't you let Rachel answer?"

"I don't have to. She'll give you the same answer I'm going to." The teacher cocked her eyebrow, waiting for more. "Rachel and I can't play Romeo and Juliet. It's not possible."

"And why not?"

"Because, on the stage, there has to be passion and love, especially when playing the parts of Romeo and Juliet in their tragedy. There is no love and passion between Rachel Berry and I. As you may have heard, since it's being spread all over school like wildfire, even though you are a teacher I'm positive you heard, so, I'll just confirm it. Rachel and I have split up. We are no longer a couple and thus, there is no more love and passion. It would never work in the characters. Not to mention it would be just plain awkward."

The teacher laughed. "You're more dramatic than I am, Jesse, and that's saying something." He fiddled with his fingers. "You and Rachel are perfectly capable of playing these parts. Hate is another of the ungovernable emotions in acting, and if you are refusing to play the part, I'm guessing there is some hate between the two of you, so take that hate and the passion of the hate, and put it into the characters."

"But, Ms. Jenson, you don't understand." They all looked at Rachel. "Jesse and I, though we are both adults, are not handling this break up well. It wasn't ended on good grounds and I feel if this were to continue, those grounds would be disrupted even more, which is not something I want to have happen."

"This is ridiculous," the teacher said, pushing her glasses up onto her forehead and rubbing her eyes with her thumb and pointer finger. "Kids, I know break-ups are hard. Trust me, I've been through my fair share of them. But this is a _school _assignment, and if you don't cooperate, I'm going to have to flunk you both."

Jesse let out a breath of aggravation. "Please try to look at this from our point of view. Rachel and I are split, done, over, and forcing us to be in such close proximities every day, playing the parts of young lovers, it doesn't make our situation any better."

"Mr. St. James, your reasoning couldn't make any more sense than you're making it, I promise you that. I get it. You don't like each other. Yes, breaking up is a problem and it would be great if you talked to Ms. Pillsbury about it, yet right now, I can see that I'm the one who has to deal with your angst-like teenage anger. And you can use that in this. In love, there are so many different emotions. Obviously, the two of you are struggling with hate. Take that hate and put it into your characters. Rachel, use yours for the scene with your mother and father, when they find out you love Romeo. And Jesse—" She turned toward him "—Use yours for the scene with Tybalt. Guys, there are so many possibilities you can do with these attitudes, you just have to look for them." The two of them were about to argue, but she clapped her hands once, as if ending the conversation. "Now, get up on stage."

Rachel didn't want to get up on that stage. It would make her heart ache if she did, ache of sorrow and pain. Pain of love. Of course she wanted to be Juliet. No one would ever turn down a role like that, but she didn't think she would be able to stand being Juliet in this play if she didn't have her Romeo in real life.

Jesse, on the other hand, leapt from his seat and jumped onto the stage. If he was going to be Romeo, he was going to do it right. And after all, he did say he wanted to get back at Rachel, didn't he?

**Okay, so, I hope you liked this chapter. Some cherry friendship forming, no? Yes, very much so. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Sooooo…. Yeah. Okay. Yes. **

Rachel and Mercedes sat in the chorus room, side by side in the blue plastic chairs.

"This is so amazing," Mercedes said, taking Rachel's hand and squeezing it tightly. "You getting to be Juliet while Jesse is Romeo, oh, my God, girl, you're so lucky."

Rachel made a face. "Why am I lucky? Jesse hates me. At least he acts like he does."

She waved her hand as if dismissing the comment. "Please. It's perfect. You get to be close to him every day now. You've been wanting to prove to him that you're actually sorry and such, and now, here's your chance. You'll be practicing with him every and that will give your opportunities to show him how you feel."

"I guess..." Rachel said, shrugging slightly.

"No, I _know._"

At that moment, Quinn came into the choir room, still wearing her sweats and with no backpack on her shoulders. "Quinn!" Rachel said, patting the other seat next to her. "Where were you today? I looked for you at lunch, but you weren't there."

The blonde sat down and crossed her legs. "Puck and I had to drop his mother off at the airport," she said, running a hand through her hair. "Then, there was the rest of the day. We decided to go home and hang with his little sister."

Rachel and Mercedes looked at each other. "Where is his little sister now?"

Then, Puck walked in quietly, balancing a sleeping Josephine on his hip. Rachel and Mercedes awed, looking adoringly at the sleeping toddler. Slowly, Puck sat down, adjusting the little girl until the both of them were sitting comfortably. "Hello, ladies," he said, nodding to the three girls. They just stared back, still looking at Joey. "I know, she's adorable."

The girls laughed. "But, watch out. She's got Puck's personality. Quick with her answers and absolutely filled to the brim with sass." Puck grinned at her as the rest of the glee club filed into the room. Everyone instantly crowded around Puck and Joey, whispering about how she was adorable or the cutest thing they'd ever seen.

It was only when Mr. Schuster walked in did she finally wake up, rubbing her eyes and yawning. Everyone awed again. "Alright, guys," he said, distracted as he looked at sheet music. "We're going to be starting a new song today. I just want to do it for fun, but I'm pretty sure we can actually do something with this." He looked up and stopped, staring directly at Joey. "Why is there a small child in my chorus room?"

The little girl grinned at him and waved her hand. "Hello mister! My name is Joey. I'm five years old, and Noah is my big brother!" she screamed, only silencing when Puck put his hand over her mouth. Leaning back, she whispered into Puck's ear, "What's his name?"

"That's Mr. Schue," he whispered back, playing with her hands.

Joey hopped off Puck's lap and marched over to the teacher. She only came up to his mid-thigh, but she shot her hand out, shaking Mr. Schuster's hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Sneaker."

He laughed. "Mr. Schuster, honey," he said kindly, bending down to her eye level. "Joey, do you like to sing?" She nodded happily. "You do?"

"Yes! Puck and I sing together when we're cleaning up my toys. I know all his favorite songs."

Mr. Schuster looked up at the glee kids. "Guys, how would you feel about having a guest soloist today?" he said, grinning when they all nodded and when he looked back down at the five year old, she was beaming.

The glee club was standing on the stage, all of them wearing light blue jeans and red tops with converse. They were standing in a line, doing in a capella introduction to the song Josephine had chosen.

Soon, the little girl's voice was echoing off the walls of the theatre, compliments of the headset mike they had set her up with, and when she began to sing, they all parted, as if her voice had made them explode.

_Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay_  
_My, oh my, what a wonderful day_  
_Plenty of sunshine headin' my way_  
_Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay_

Joey came walking down the big stairs they'd set up on the stage, wearing a dress dress with light blue tights and black converse, the five year old version of what the glee club was wearing. They had put her hair into pigtails with red bow barrettes clipped near the hair ties.

Puck stepped forward, standing next to his little sister and holding her hand, singing along with her. They walked across the stage as if strolling along a path and the big grin spread across the five year old's face.

_Mister Bluebird's on my shoulder_  
_It's the truth, it's actual_  
_Ev'rything is satisfactual_  
_Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay_  
_Wonderful feeling, wonderful day!_

She giggled quickly when Puck picked her up, spinning her around before balancing her on his hip. They stared out at Mr. Schuster, who was sitting at the table watching the siblings sing out to him.

_Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay_  
_My, oh my, what a wonderful day_  
_Plenty of sunshine headin' my way_  
_Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay_

Puck put Joey back down on the ground, holding her hand again as they danced in place, bouncing around and bopping their heads along with the music. Then, the whole glee club joined in, running to the edge of the stage and standing next to Puck and Joey, Rachel taking the little girl's other hand. They all dancing and sang, falling into a fit of laughter when the song ended.

Mr. Schuster started clapping and laughing along with them. "Haha, whoo! That was awesome, guys. Joey, you are welcome to sing with us anytime."

Puck high fived his little sister, giving her a bear hug and picking her up so her feet were dangling two feet off the ground.  
~*~

Mike and Rachel were the last to leave glee club that day. They were sitting in the front row of the auditorium, eating pretzel sticks and drinking water. "So, is Finn your next target?" Mike asked around the abundance of pretzels he's just shoved into his mouth. Rachel nodded as she sipped at her water. "You know it's going to be difficult."

"Oh, believe me, I know. I'm not even remotely close to thinking that he'll forgive me instantly."

"It'll be a challenge. Are you up for it, young grasshopper?"

She gave Mike a firm nod. "Definitely."

Mike stood up, holding his hand out to her. "Good. Then let's venture forth, for the one you seek is in the lot of parking, making way for the woman who transports him to places he cannot go alone." Rachel gave Mike a questioning look as she took his hand. His shoulders were high as he pushed his chest out defiantly, his nose in the air. "Come, young grasshopper, the challenge awaits."

The two people marched out of the theatre, hand in hand and out to the parking lot, where Finn was leaning against the wall, scrolling through songs on his iPod. "Ah, there is the target," he said, pointing to the tall teenager by the benches. "Go forth, wise-one."

Mike then gave Rachel a little push and she yelped, stumbling forward before making her way to Finn, her fingers fiddling with the hem of her skirt. "Finn?"

He jumped, then looked up, a surprised look on his face. "Oh... Hi," he said dully, taking one of his earbuds out. "What do you want?"

She flinched at his words. They were cold, and toneless, and it made her bite down on the insides of her cheeks. "How... How are you?"

He shrugged. "Been better." There was a silence between them. "Is there something in particular you wanted, Rachel, because my mom is here and I need to go."

"I was just wondering what was happened between us. Where are we right now?" she said, holding her hands behind her back. Finn crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry about what happened, and I know that you're upset. I don't want things to be cold between us, and I can see that they are. Finn, I'm sorry."

Finn stood there for a moment, then shoved himself off the wall by his shoulders. "No, you're not sorry," he said, walking over to his mom's car. "You just don't want me to not speak to you anymore because you can't stand the thought of me being mad at you. Face it Rachel, you like the attention, and you don't regret a single thing about what you did. You like being the center of everything, and now that you've lost all your guy friends, and your boyfriend, you in the center because everyone pities you. Keep yourself where you are, Rachel, and do me a favor. Please don't try to get me to be your friend again. If you really wanted to be friends with me, you'll listen to that and leave me alone. You really hurt me, and I'm not over that yet."

Then, without even a second though, he climbed into the car and shut the door, leaving her standing there alone. As the car drove off, Mike came up to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I think this is what it's like to be rejected," she said into his chest, hugging his torso tightly. Mike warmed her arms quickly, letting his chin rest on her head. "He doesn't want me to try to get him to forgive me."

"I heard."

She nodded slowly. "What do I do?"

"Well, you have pretty much two options. You could either actually leave him alone like he asked and show that you do want to respect him..." She made a face, looking up at him as he continued to warm her arms. "Or, you could do what any other diva in the world would do about it." She raised one of her eyebrows. "Sing about it."

**Yeah, really short chapter. Sorry. It's just how it is. I hope you like it, and please review. Show me the love people.**


	11. Chapter 11

The glee club sat in the choir room, waiting for Mr. Schuster, who was running extremely late. Almost twenty minutes had passed since their rehearsal was going to start, and he hadn't even popped his head in to say that he would be there in a few minutes.

"Do you think he's dead?" Puck said after a long time of silence, looking around at the people giving him raised eyebrows. "What?"

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Maybe he got called out because of family problems or something. Doesn't he have, like, the world's craziest wife?" she said, running a hand through her messy hair.

"I bet it was a meeting or something. They called him over the intercom to Principal Figgin's office after school, they're probably arguing about trying to get rid of the glee club, as usual."

"Agreed," Kurt said, carefully fixing his hair, which wasn't even out of place. "On my way here, I saw him in the office. Except there was a strange woman with him who I didn't recognize. But may I say, her outfit was stupendous."

Rachel huffed, annoyed. "People, Mr. Schuster is just late. I'm sure something came up with a solo he's going to give me and is having trouble deciding which one it is. He's just caught up right now."

Everyone groaned and she crossed her arms over her chest, making a high pitched 'Humph' noise. There was silence in the room.

"I still think he's dead."

"He's not dead… I saw him with the crazy blonde drama teacher…" They all looked up at Mike, who was sitting there with his ankles crossed, pretending to stroke a beard.

"What do you mean you 'saw him with the crazy blonde drama teacher'?"

The lanky boy slowly turned his head to look at Puck. "What do you think I mean, dude?" he said, sitting up straight. "I saw him—Mr. Schuster, obviously—in the hallway with the drama teacher, who is crazy and blonde. Ms. Jenson, you know who I mean? Always wears boots and has glasses?"

"Yeah, we know you're talking about but why would he be with her?"

Mike whipped his head to look at Quinn. "Oh, you don't know?" The blonde shook her head slowly. "Rumor mills are churning out some interesting gossip lately, and I'm shocked you haven't heard. Mr. Schuster and Ms. Jenson are having some kind of intimate relationship or something along those lines…"

Quinn snorted. "No… There's no way. Mr. Schuster is practically head over heels for Ms. Pillsbury; he wouldn't go for Ms. Jenson in a million years."

"Wanna bet?" Everyone turned to face him better, and to listen. Mike pulled his iPhone out of his pocket and went of the internet, searching for Jacob Ben Israel's blog. "It's all over the blog-o-sphere." He cleared his throat. "And as for the teacher gossip… 'Looks like guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury, has some competition. Former flame, Will Schuster, was seen with the new drama teacher, Patricia Jenson, at the most recent basketball game of McKinley's shooters, holding hands and sharing a raspberry Slushee…'" With a satisfied look on his face, Mike slid his phone back into his pocket. "And there you have it."

"I still don't believe it. How could be go from one person to another in seconds. Just the other day, I heard him talking to Ms. Pillsbury and it sounded like-"

Suddenly, the glee club heard footsteps in the hallway, and a bunch of shushing. "Be quiet, don't let them hear you," someone whispered, a giggle following. The giggle and the warning were made by two different people, and the club recognized the warning as Mr. Schuster.

"Why can't they hear me? It's not like I'm famous or anything…"

There was some rustling and more shushing. "I know, but I don't want them to see you yet," Mr. Schuster said, silencing the giggles coming from the woman. "Alright, I will… Just, wait here. I'll be back in a second." Than Mr. Schuster came walking into the room. "Sorry I'm late guys…I had to take care of a few things." The glee club looked at him with raised eyebrows, some of them crossing their arms over their chests defiantly. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Why are you late?" Rachel said, arching one of her eyebrows up higher.

"I told you, Rachel, I had to take care of some things."

"Or did you just have to see Ms. Jenson?" Quinn said as she dramatically crossed her legs at the knees.

Mr. Schuster looked at her with a shocked expression. "I… I'm sorry, Quinn, I don't know what you're talking about."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb, Mr. Schue. Come on, we know you were with her…"

"What? Quinn, what are you talking about?"

"That was Ms. Jenson outside the door, wasn't it? We all know that there's something going on between you two. Jacob Ben Israel's blog confirms it."

He laughed once. "Quinn, that wasn't Ms. Jenson outside." They all nodded slowly. "No, it wasn't." Some of the students rolled their eyes and other scoffed. "I'm telling you the truth, guys, it wasn't Ms. Jenson."

"Then who was it?"

The teacher looked to Mercedes. "If you really must know…" He turned toward the door. "Alright, you can come in now. They've guessed too much," he called, smiling when a woman walked in and stood by his side. She looked young, maybe barely past twenty. She was wearing a white sundress with a jean jacket over it and knee high boots on her feet. She accessorized in gold jewelry and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail that bounced around when she wrapped her arms around his middle. "Guys, this is my baby sister…"

All the jaws dropped of the teenagers, the glee club looking at them with shocked looks on their faces. "Hey," she said in a friendly voice, waggling her fingers at the teenagers.

"But… You look nothing alike," Finn said, pointing between the two of them subtly.

The two of them smiled. "I'm, um, I'm adopted." Jaws dropped farther. "I'm one of those really rare kids who was adopted from inside the united states…" They all stared at her. "I'm Maeve."

"How _old _are you?" Santana said, giving the girl a slight look of disgust.

The brunette woman smiled. "Nineteen." While the girls silently groaned, the boys nodded approvingly. "So, it's, uh, nice to meet you and stuff…"

Mr. Schuster smiled. "Yeah, it's nice to meet my _sister, _not the _drama teacher,_" he said, annunciating the words and giving them looks that said 'What where you guys even thinking?'

"So… What's your fine ass doing here?" Puck said, leaning his elbows on his knees.

Maeve looked at him. "I'm unfortunately staying with Will while my boyfriend and I transfer to Ohio State University, but I know it's going to suck staying with my older brother Way to protective. But it's nice being back home for a while…"

Quinn's eyes widened. "Why would you ever want to transfer here? It's awful and depressing. There's, like, a fifteen people population in Ohio."

Will's sister laughed. "Well, he got an early job at a dentist office. They're only having him be an intern, since he's only a junior, but they're thinking of having him be the orthodontist there."

"You're boyfriend's a dentist?" She nodded at Puck. "Maybe you should leave him. I'm a football player. Must more impressive."

"And much more likely to not go anywhere in life," she shot back, smiling when Quinn hit Puck on the shoulder. "You must be Puck…" He nodded, pouting his lips in an attempt to be seductive. "Yeah, Will's told me _all _about you. This is your girlfriend, right? The one you impregnated on the first try?" she said, pointing to Quinn, who was sitting there, tapping her fingers on her arm and sitting there with a very pissed off look on her face.

In the corner, Finn cracked his knuckles, clearly bothered as he looked at the couple in front of him. But, Puck just nodded proudly, running his fingers through Quinn's hair once and leaning over to kiss her temple. "Then, maybe you should refrain from hitting on me when she's in the room, okay?" Puck smirked at the nineteen year old, but scooted his chair closer to Quinn, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "And, who else… You're Rachel, that one's easy…" The lead female vocalist beamed. "Let's see… Mercedes and Kurt, obviously… Then, Mike, Matt, and Finn… You two must me Santana and Brittany, and you're Artie, I know that. But… Wasn't there another?"

Mr. Schuster nodded. "Yeah, Jesse St. James. He's suspiciously gone missing the past couple days."

"I _told _you, he's sick," Rachel said, straightening her skirt as if it was common knowledge that Jesse was sick. "He came down with the stomach bug that's going around or something like that. All I know is when he finally answered my call to say he didn't want to speak to me, he sounded very sick."

Everyone's eyebrows rose and Rachel suddenly blushed, looking at the floor as if she hadn't said anything. "Alrighty, then," Maeve said, clapping her hands once. "Well, I can sense a lot of tension in this room, and I'm guessing it's all from me, so I'm gonna take off. Besides, I'm meeting Austin for dinner at BreadstiX…"

She and Mr. Schuster hugged then she waved at the glee club before walking out the door. "Order the Four Cheese Parmesan!" Mike shouted out suddenly and Maeve popped her head back in for a second to salute him before disappearing once again. The glee club looked up at Mike with their eyebrows raised and he just shrugged. "What? It had to be said…"


	12. Chapter 12

** Aaaaaaaaaaand here we go with chapter 15. I hope you all enjoy. :) Also, this chapter's a little OOC with Rachel. I hope you don't mind. Puck brings out the best in her. **

The same day, after glee club practice, Rachel and Quinn were standing in the hallway, talking about Mr. Schuster's sister. "No, I bet she's actually a really good singer," Rachel said, running a hand through her hair. "Even if she's not _really _related to Mr. Schue."

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, agreed. And she's really pretty, too. She reminds me of an actress, but I can't place who…"

"Blair from _Gossip Girl_," Rachel filled in for her, pulling chap stick out of her back pack.

"Yes, exactly!"

"She's _hot_," Puck said from behind the blonde and she turned around, hitting him lightly on the chest. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I am. Rachel's coming over, though." He arched his eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that. Currently, I'm the woman of the house, and as we live in a matriarchal household, I am saying she's coming over."

The two girls smiled and linked arms as Puck stood there, watching them as they walked away. "A matriwhosal whathold?" he said, following after them confusedly.

They all walked over to Puck's truck, climbing in and snuggling together on the front. Both Rachel and Quinn had squashed themselves onto the passenger seat and Puck rolled his eyes, pulling out of the parking lot as Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel for warmth. Puck could hear their teeth chattering together and he reached out, turning on the heat and angling the vents toward the two girls.

"I hope you two don't mind, we have to pick up Joey from a friend's house," Puck said, turning left at the town center, instead of right, which was how he usually got to his house from the school. They just nodded, unable to say anything. "Why is it that you two are cold and I'm not?"

"You're-r wea-aring t-t-wo-o j-jacket-ts," Quinn stuttered out, her teeth still chattering loudly. Rachel nodded again, agreeing with the blonde and Puck smirked, glad he had planned ahead in the morning.

Soon, they pulled into the driveway of Josephine's friend's house and Puck hopped out of the truck, leaving the heat on. He walked up and rang the doorbell, rocking back and forth on his feet until the door opened. A short boy with static-y hair was standing there, his shirt wrinkled as he looked up at Puck with wide eyes.

"Hey, Freddy, my man," Puck said, high fiving the toddler.

"Mah man," the little kid said back, his hand smacking against Puck's palm, which was bigger than the stretch of his fingers.

Puck laughed. "Your girlfriend around?" The blonde kid nodded then scurried off, his mother taking his place. "Hello, Mrs. Lewis. How was she?"

"Joey was good. She and Freddy had a snack when they got home, but she's been complaining about being hungry for the last half hour, so I think dinner is definitely a good idea when she gets home. She's also been yawning at least every five minutes," Mrs. Lewis said, looking down when Joey popped up from behind the tall woman's legs. One of the straps from her overalls was unbuckled and her pigtails were falling out of the elastics. "They also played wrestling for quite a long time. Your sister's quite the professional."

"I sat on Freddy's head!" she said proudly, putting her sneakers on as well as her coat.

Puck knelt down and fixed her hair as well as her overalls before laughing once. "Well, that's great, Jo, but, did you say sorry? Because you know that sitting on someone's head is only something you do when you absolutely need to."

Joey turned around and faced her friend. "Sorry, Freddy."

Puck nodded and then picked Joey up, balancing her on his hip. "Better… Well, thanks for watching her, Mrs. Lewis."

"Anytime," Mrs. Lewis said, giving Puck and Josephine a big smile. "Have a good night."

"You too." Puck looked down at Freddy. "I'll see you tomorrow, my brotha."

The two of them high fived again. "I'll see you tomorrow, too, mah brotha."

And then Puck and Joey turned around and headed back to the truck, where Rachel and Quinn were talking in the front seat. Puck set Joey in the back seat, waiting to close the door until she had secured herself in her car seat. Once he was in the driver's seat, he turned the radio on and pushed a CD into the slot. Instantly, a mix of Princess and the Frog, Tangled, and other Disney songs came on, and Joey started singing along in the back seat.

"What are we going to have for dinner?" Quinn asked, her stomach growling along with her words. "I'm starving."

Puck pressed his lips together as he thought. "Hmm… Well, it's gotta be vegetarian, right, Berry?" Rachel nodded, pushing her hair out of her face. "Why don't we just order Chinese? That way Quinn can have all her foods and there's still some vegetarian stuff, too."

The two girls nodded. "Sounds good to me," Rachel said, bouncing her head along with _Goin' Down The Bayou_, one of Ray The Firefly's songs.

All of a sudden, a high pitched scream filled the car, making Rachel and Quinn slap their hands over their ears. "Whoa!" Puck said, the car jerking to the side slightly when her scream flew into his ears. "Hole crap! Josephine, stop screaming." The car suddenly fell silent and Puck pulled over to the side of the road, putting the car in park. He turned around and faced his sister, who now had tears trailing down her face.

She was sobbing loudly, managing to say, "I forgot Ray," as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand sloppily.

"Where did you have him last? Freddy's house?" She nodded. "Then we'll go back to Freddy's house, okay? Just stop crying, baby."

But, she continued to cry, shrieks occasionally filling the car. Her face was turning gradually more and more red and soon Puck climbed out of the car and opened her door, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. Then she reached her little arms forward, hugging her brother as she cried into his shoulder.

"Hey, baby, are you gonna be okay?" She sniffed and looked up at him. "Can you calm down for me?"

After a moment, Joey nodded and Puck kissed her forehead before he got back in his seat, looking at her in the rearview mirror as her sniffling quieted and she started hiccupping. Puck looked at Quinn and Rachel, but they were just having a quiet conversation about how the baby had just kicked, Puck giving them an unnoticed grateful look as they made a U-Turn and drove back to Freddy's house. Soon after she calmed down, Joey went back to singing the Disney songs as if nothing had happened and as if she hadn't just thrown a temper tantrum while they were on the road. Only fifty seconds of _A Whole New World _played before Puck found himself singing along.

_A whole new world_

_ A dazzling place I never knew_

_ But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear_

_ That now I'm a whole new world with you_

Rachel and Quinn looked at each other for a moment, but then shrugged and sang along with the two siblings. 

_ Unbelievable sights, _

_ Indescribable feelings_

_ Soaring, tumbling, free-wheeling _

_ Through an endless diamond sky_

Suddenly, Puck made a sharp turn into Freddy's driveway and put the car in park, running up to the door. "We seem to have forgotten a very important firefly," they heard him say to Mrs. Lewis as soon as she opened the door. They saw her smile and reach next to her, producing the Ray the Firefly plush, which must have been sitting right next to the door. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll see you tomorrow."

Puck jogged back to the truck and climbed in, tossing the firefly to Joey, who smiled and hugged it tightly. "Are we all set now, or did you forget Sebastian there too?"

"Sebastian is at home," she said, buckling Ray into the seat next to her, making sure he was secure. "Okay… We can go."

With a salute, Puck pulled out of the driveway for the second time and headed home, this time without any interruptions at all.

At seven o'clock, after eating her dinner in front of the TV as she watched Pocahontas for the millionth time, Joey was asleep in her bed, tucked tightly under her Little Mermaid bed set. The three teenagers had waited to eat until she was asleep, and so with the cartons of Chinese food, a two liter bottle of Fanta, and a six pack of IBC root beer, they all gathered together in the TV room, _The Simpsons _playing quietly in the background.

As Rachel dug into her chicken free Lo Mein and Puck and Quinn chowed down on General Gao's Chicken, Puck looked up at the small brunette. "Sorry about what happened in the car," he said, taking a quick swig from the root beer bottle.

Rachel waved her fork at him before twisting some noodles around it. "Don't worry about it. It was no big deal."

"Joey does things her own way…"

"What do you mean?

"It's not like she has any social or emotional issues or anything, but whenever she feels like doing something, she'll just break out into a certain emotion." Rachel nodded slowly. "So, I just wanted to apologize. It's kind of… embarrassing."

Rachel's eyebrow rose. "Why is it embarrassing?'

He shrugged. "Well… It doesn't really matter where she is or what the situation is. If she wants something or needs something, she'll just break down. And I know that happens with a lot of toddlers, but it takes a lot more to calm her down that it usually does for other kids. Once she gets something in her head, it takes a lot of effort to be able to calm her down."

"I know how that is."

Puck shook his head. "No, you don't."

"I do… I used to take care of my cousin. He had autism and so it was harder for him to be around other kids and get along with them. Whenever he wouldn't get something he wanted, he would just cry and cry and when you tried to calm him down to talk to him, he would try to hurt you. Like, he would scratch you or he would throw his toys at you." She pulled out a root beer and opened it, taking a quick sip. "But, I don't babysit him anymore."

Quinn sat forward. "Why, did something happen to him?"

Rachel's face fell. "Um, yes," she said quietly, looking at her carton of vegetarian Lo Mein. "Probably the worst thing that could happen to a little kid…"

"What?" the other two said together.

She looked up at them, and in a sorrow filled voice, she said, "He got older."

Puck looked at Rachel for a moment, then burst out laughing. "I approve of that, Rachel, well done." He tipped his bottle toward hers, making them clink together. "Highly approve."

The two of them lifted their bottles to each other and Rachel smiled. "Well, thank you," she said before the two of them drank from the root beer quickly.

Quinn smiled, watching as Puck and Rachel, for what seemed like the first time since they broke up, got along and were actually joking around with each other. She started at Puck for a moment, then Rachel. The two of them were just sitting there, laughing, before Rachel put her noodles on the coffee table and reached for a container of spring rolls.

"Hey," she said, getting up from the couch and going to the bookshelf that they had that was piled with DVDs. "You, uh, like horror movies, Puck?" Rachel smirked, scanning the three entire shelves that Puck had completely dedicated to scary movies.

He nodded, cutting an egg roll in half with his fork and shoving half into his mouth. "Mm-hmm…" he mumbled around the roll. "I love 'em." Rachel smiled and sat back on the couch. "What about you?"

She laughed. "Are you serious? I would die if I couldn't see a scary movie again."

Puck's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, _really_." Rachel nodded once, pulling a DVD off the shelf and reading the back. "Who directed the _Scream _series?"

"Wes Craven."

He nodded once. "Very good… In _Nightmare on Elm Street, _what was the name of the killer, and what did he use?"

Rachel snorted. "That's _easy_. Freddy Krueger, and he had gloves with knives on them."

"In _Carrie, _how did she kill her mother?"

She sat back down on the couch and picked up a carton of spring rolls. "She did the St. Joseph crucifix and nailed her to the wall with kitchen knives."

"I am impressed." She shrugged, acting like it was no big deal. "What do you like better, Scream or Friday the 13th?"

"Scream, all the way," she said, taking a bite from a spring roll. "No question about it."

He nodded. "Why?" he asked, taking the spring roll she had offered him.

Rachel licked her lips as the thought, taking another bite of her food. "Because, it's more like… Instead of a possessed person or someone who's gone crazy, it's just people trying to get revenge for the awful life they had…"

"Very true. Like it was said in the forth one, 'It's not zombies or aliens or little Asian ghost girls."

"'There's something real about a guy with a knife who just… snaps'," Rachel finished for him and he smiled. Puck turned and held out his fork to Quinn, which had beef and broccoli on it. She leaned forward and took the bite just as he said. "Scream order?"

"I don't know... I like the forth one… I think the order for me would be, like, tie for first and fourth, then second and third."

Puck nodded as took another sip from his soda. "Mm, agreed. But you know what I like?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Nightmare on Elm Street."

"Ooh, me too."

He grinned. "You know… I think I've got the Nightmare movies in my room somewhere. If I find them, care to watch?"

Rachel grinned. "Do you even have to ask?" she said and he smirked, getting up from the couch and walking down the hallway to his bedroom.

After a moment, Rachel looked over to Quinn, who was staring at her, mesmerized. "Wow, Rachel," she said, giving her an approving look. "I'm impressed."

"What?"

"Aside from me, Puck has never had anything in common with a girl before. All the relations he's ever had with someone were sex. You actually talk to him."

The brunette scoffed. "That is _not _true. I'm sure Noah has other things in common with other girls." Quinn shook her head. "Well, whatever."

Quinn laughed. "Seriously, you talk to him, Rachel. Doesn't happen often. Or ever, really."

"It's true," Puck said, walking back into the room with the DVDs in his hand. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you're obsessed with Call of Duty and Halo." Rachel looked at the floor, then up at him, blushing slightly. "Wait, you're _actually _obsessed with video games?" She nodded. "I think I just found my new best friend," he said as he put the first Nightmare on Elm Street movie into the DVD player, turned off the lights and settled himself on the couch. "Alright, let's start this thing," he said, turning the TV on and grabbing a random carton from the coffee table and opening it. "I love this movie."

Rachel leaned into the couch. "Agreed."

Quinn looked at them both. "You guys scare me."

Puck snorted. "Ha, of course we do, Quinn. It's our job."

"Just promise me one thing, Rachel." She looked at her friend at the other end, who was running a hand over her baby bump. "Promise that you won't turn into a female version of Puck."

At first, Rachel was silent, and when the TV screen turned black, she let out a menacing laugh. Then, Freddie Krueger's face flashed onto the screen and Rachel had a dark look on her face as she stared at Quinn. "Too late."

Quinn looked terrified. "Oh, God."

In glee rehearsal the next day, the glee club had gone back to talking about Mr. Schuster and Ms. Jenson and the relationship in question.

"Do you really think Mr. Schue would all of a sudden go for her, after he and Ms. Pillsbury broke up?" Mercedes said, pushing her bangs out of her eyes.

"Who knows," Santana said as she sat down next to Brittany. "He's Mr. Schuster. And he just got out of being in an awful marriage to the town's craziest woman. Don't you think he'd try to go for as many women as possible to try to make up for all the years of meaningless sex he missed?"

Quinn rolled her eyes as Brittany spoke. "Maybe she's selling him hair gel. Or turtles."

"Really? Turtles?"

"Why not?" she said to Puck, twirling her hair around on her finger.

Puck sighed. "Why do we even care about this anyway?" he said, his wrists resting on the back of his chair as he sat in it backwards. "It's not like it affects us in anyway."

"That's where you're wrong my friend," Mike said from one row up, and Puck tilted his head up to look at the lanky boy in front of him. "If Mr. Schuster starts to have another woman, instead of Mrs. Crazypants, then _he's _going to change. When he was with his old wife, that made him wicked uptight. It was like someone stuck a fire poker up his ass that no one was allowed to remove. Ms. Pillsbury, for the short time they were together, made him try to fix everything because he was trying to fix her. Imagine what Ms. Jenson will do to him. It'll be freaking doomsday."

Tina looked up at him. "Why is that?"

Mike crossed his ankles and stroked his chin. "Mr. Schuster is used to being in charge. So is Ms. Jenson. Soon, it'll become a battle between them, and whenever he's around us, well… That can only mean that we're the punching bag and he's the boxer."

"You can't _possibly _know that. Maybe that won't happen… Maybe they'll get along," Quinn said to him, readjusting her headband.

Finn, who had been silent for most of this conversation, finally spoke up. "I say we just stay out of it. We don't even know if they're dating."

"I bet they are," Kurt said, taking off his top hat and placing it on the toe of his shoe as he crossed his legs at the knee. "I've been wondering whether or not they would, and I think it's about time they did, just so they can realize that it's the stupidest idea ever."

Mercedes shook her head. "I completely agree. They wouldn't work together, even if you ignored the fact that they would try to control each other. It would be like oil and water."

"Can't we just let it go?" Puck said, letting his head fell onto his hands.

Finn sighed. "Yeah, I agree."

"Fine… We'll just stay quiet and not talk about it," Kurt said, facing forward, as did the rest of the glee club.

Everyone mumbled something in agreement and they all did their one thing, Mercedes and Kurt filing their nails while Quinn and Puck started texting Rachel to see where she was. It was silent. They could all hear the clock ticking. After a while, you could hear Santana quietly count the seconds, starting all over again when a new minute started. Finn was wrapping a strand of string around his finger tightly before unwinding it. Matt started tapping out a drumbeat and next to him, Mike was playing Tic Tac Toe with himself on the tips of his Converse sneakers in Sharpie. Brittany started humming the Tellitubbies theme song.

"But, what if they are dating?" Kurt finally said and everyone groaned, complaining.

Then, all of a sudden, Rachel came running into the choir room, a flustered look on her face. She wasn't wearing her flats, they were being clutched in each hand, as well as now crumpled sheet music, and she was as wide eyed as a deer in the headlights. "You guys… You'll never guess what I just saw," she said, standing in front of them by the piano, which she had put her shoes and papers onto.

"What did you see?" Mike said, patting the plastic chair in the center of them all.

Rachel went and sat down, everyone turned to face her as they leaned in to listen. "Well, I was walking down the hallway on my way to glee club…"

_Rachel was walking down the hall to glee club, humming _You Can't Stop The Beat _softly to herself as her flats pattered on the linoleum floor. She was absentmindedly shuffling through the sheet music she had in her hand, not really paying attention to her surroundings as she rounded a corner, but then she saw two shadows and quickly, she backed up, hiding behind the wall. _

_ "You've got to be quiet," an all too familiar voice said as he shushed the woman who was giggling softly. "You never know who could be here." _

_ As slowly as she could, Rachel subtly popped her head around the corner to see who it was. She couldn't see faces, but she recognized those suede boots anywhere. "Listen, Will, I've got to take off. I have some casting to do, but what if we met later for dinner?" _

_ Rachel's jaw dropped and she silently gasped as she continued to watch. "Definitely. I've got some papers to grade after the glee practice is over, so why don't we meet at Hamilton's for a very late, romantic dinner?" _

_ The woman's silhouette nodded and leaned forward to press her lips against the now confirmed Mr. Schuster's. "Of course. I'll see you then." _

_ Then she broke away and revealed herself as Ms. Jenson as she walked toward where Rachel was standing. _

_ "Oh, dear," the teenager whispered to herself, and then she took her flats off and ran silently, in her socks, the same direction she came in, taking the long way to the choir room so as not to cross paths with the secretive couple who had, right in front of her eyes, become not so secretive anymore. _

"Oh, my God…" Quinn said, her eyebrows raising. "I can't believe it… They're actually together."

Mike nodded. "So, it is true, ladies and gents… So. It. Is. True."

**I'm not sure what to say about this chapter. It's a chapter that's needed obviously, but it's neither cliffy, or bad in the sense that something bad happened, or good in the same sense as bad. I just don't know what to say. Review though, and tell me what you think. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Jeepers… I've realized something… This story needs to go somewhere. Lovely. Time to start driving it into a certain direction, yes? Yes. Fast pacing, peeps. Don't kill me, kay? Sweetness. **

** Also… Who's up for a little St. Berry? *Raises hand***

Rachel was sitting in her room at 10:30, snuggled on her bed in sweatpants and a tank top as she watched _Jaws _on YouTube and ate raspberry sorbet out of the carton. She was about halfway through the movie when a little Skype warning popped up in the bottom right corner of the screen, saying 'Mike_Chang2.0 is online.'

And then there was a ringing sound. Pausing the movie, Rachel clicked on the warning before Mike popped up in front of her, his hair wet as it stuck out in all different directions. "Rachel!" he said excitedly, tugging a towel from side to side over his head. "I have a brilliant idea, young Jedi."

She scooped some sorbet into her mouth and let it melt before she spoke. "A brilliant idea about what, Master Yoda?"

"About Finnegan Hudson, your most recent target." She nodded slowly, licking her spoon. "I was in the shower, using my super awesome, completely brain boosting shampoo-" He held a green bottle of L'Oreal Kid's Shampoo in front of the web cam, grinning "-And, I swear, this stuff works because I just came up with the most brilliant beyond brilliant plan ever."

"And what is that?"

Mike put on a shirt then sat down in front of his computer. "Okay… What is Finn's favorite band?" Rachel was silent for a moment, looking blankly at him. Mike let out a sigh. "Chicago. He _loves _Chicago. He eats, lives, and breathes their music like he'll die without it."

"Mm-hmm," she said slowly, chewing on the inside of her lip as she waited for more.

"Right. And you said you didn't know how to get Finn to forgive you? And I said you should sing?" She nodded once, her hair felling in front of her face. "Okay, so, check out this link. It's brilliant."

With a sigh, Rachel moved the curser to click on the YouTube link that Mike had just sent her in the chat box below the video chat. She sat in silence as she watched the video, chewing her lip as she saw Mike get more and more excited as the song went on. When it was over, Mike was nearly giddy and she just shook her head. He shrunk down a few inches as his posture slumped.

"It'll never work," she said, closing the YouTube window as he scoffed.

"How can you say that? Did you not listen to the song? It's perfect!"

Rachel was silent for a long time. "I just don't know about trying to get Finn right now. He had said that the only way for me to get him to get over it was to leave him alone and not talk to him. What if we do this, then he doesn't forgive me and it just makes things worse?"

"How could it make things worse, Rach?"

"Well, he could get annoyed that I'm trying to get him to forgive me after he said not to, then that could make him even more mad."

Mike smiled, stroking his chin. "That is always a possibility."

She nodded. "Precisely my point. I don't want to push Finn. He's sensitive and he was my best friend up until a month ago… I just don't think that I should be doing this anymore."

"What? Rachel, you can't give up now! You did so well with getting Puck and-"

Rachel frowned. "Well, Noah was easy. And besides, he had Quinn pushing _him _to fix things with _me _because she claimed that none of this was my fault. That's the only reason he forgave me."

"And you two are, like, pals now or something. I heard from him that you like scary movies and video games. Which is something that you totally should have told me a month ago. We could have totally come up with fabulous forgiving schemes through a nice game of Call of Duty." Rachel blushed and smiled, running a hand through her hair. "Anyway, you got Puck back. Yeah, he was easy because he had a hormonal, pregnant teenager who has potential to become an axe murderer if you piss her off pushing him to get things right with you, but even if that was the reason why he forgave you, you two are sort of friends now. It's getting the person to forgive you that's the key. Obviously. They just need a little, what was the word you used?" Mike snapped his fingers. "Ah, yes, that's right. _Push_."

"But this is Finn. Sometimes giving him a little _push_ makes it a little _worse_."

He laughed once, leaning toward the web cam. "Rachel, you will never know until you try."

~*~  
The next day at school, Rachel was in the choir room going through the sheet music she had had the day before. She was singing _Dancing Through Life_ from _Wicked_ softly while Brad absently played along with her. He was humming along with the music and when she was done sorting the baritone music from the soprano's, she stopped singing and looked at him.

He stopped playing, his fingers poised over the keys. "Brad?" His eyebrows rose slightly. "Can I ask you a question with no intention of being rude?" Brad shrugged, legging his hands fall onto his knees. "Do you ever talk?"

Rachel heard him laugh softly and just as he opened his mouth to say something, Jesse appeared in the doorway. "Jesse," she said, shocked to see him. "You're better."

"Yeah," he said sharply, putting his hands into the pockets of his jean jacket.

She straightened her skirt subconsciously, giving him a soft smile. "Well, I hope that you didn't suffer too much while you were ill."

"No."

"What did you have?"

Jesse sighed, shifting his weight. "Flu," he said, annoyingly sticking to one word answers.

Rachel tucked her hair behind one ear, looking at the floor for a moment. "What are you doing in the choir room?"

"I'm picking up the sheet music for the song Mr. Schuster said we were going in glee. He wanted me to look over it before rehearsal today."

"Oh, well, here… This is it."

Rachel handed him a packet of sheet music, feeling a wave of warmth and chills at the same time when his fingers brushed against hers as he took the papers from her. The two of them froze for a moment, his pointer finger resting on the back of her hand before quickly taking the sheet music out of her hand, ignoring the paper cut he got. Then, with a hard nod and a quick sigh, he turned around, his boots thumping on the linoleum floor as he walked away without even saying thank you or goodbye. Rachel could feel her stomach churning as she watched him disappear before she looked at Brad.

"He's just being a sour puss," she said, covering up the feeling in her stomach as Brad just sat there, blinking as she started talking. "You know, I can understand that he would be angry about the music video. You know the video that I made a while ago? With the Run Joey Run song? I can see that he would be angry. Anyone would. Noah was angry, Finn was angry, and since he was my boyfriend at the time, I can say that Jesse definitely has a right to be angry. But, I think that treating me like he does is just crossing the line a _little _bit. Don't you think?" Brad didn't even get a chance to open his mouth before Rachel kept talking. "Yes, I think so, too. And he was my boyfriend. I loved him. And now, he's acting more dramatic than I am, even though he said himself that _I _was more dramatic than _he _was when the two of us first got together. He's a drama queen."

The bell rang just when Rachel stopped talking and she swung her backpack over her shoulder. "Thanks for the chat," she said brightly as Brad shook his head, half in disbelief and half in amusement as she bounced out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

With a sigh, Rachel walked down the crowded hallway, dodging football players and getting to her locker, somehow managing to not get run over. She did her combination and pulled it open, seeing a piece of lined paper fall from on top of her text books and binders. It landed on the edge of her locker and she picked it up, unfolding it cautiously.

_**You have an appointment in the auditorium after school. Be there right away. –Yoda **_

Rachel rolled her eyes, but smiled and stuck the note to the side of her locker with a magnet before pulling out her binder that she had especially for drama class, slipping it into her backpack and unloading her chemistry and algebra textbooks before slamming her locker door shut and heading down to the theater, where she would try and be the love struck romantic lead that she was assigned.

"Stop! Everybody stop!" Ms. Jenson said, holding her hands up at eyelevel as she looked at the teenagers on the stage. "Alright, now… Rachel, you're doing wonderful. Honestly, I almost believe you." As Rachel smiled, the teacher adjusted her glasses on her nose and walked up the few steps to the stage. "Lauren Zizes, you're brilliant. I love that fact that instead of making the nurse sound urgent and concerned, you're making her sound bored. It's a brilliant twist… We're done with your scene for now, though. You can take a break, drink some water, have a snack, read a book, take a nap, anything. You were great, thank you. But, Jesse…"

He slowly turned his head from his position on the ladder that was attached to the scaffolding that was being used as a makeshift balcony, where Rachel stood, leaning over the bar close to his face. "What am I not doing that Rachel isn't doing? I'm sounding as in love as I can," he snapped, making Rachel stand up straight and plant her hands on her hips, aggravated.

Mrs. Jenson walked over the scaffolding, standing below them. "I need you to give it a little more oomph," she said, tapping the heel to her boots on the floor.

"Oomph?" Jesse said, crossing his arms over his chest with one arm hooked around the ladder.

"Yes. Oomph. Pizzazz. Spark. _Romance _for Christ's sake," she said, throwing her hands up in the air. "You two need romance."

From across the stage, there was a snort from Mercedes and snicker from Kurt as the two of them waited for the next time they needed to be on stage. Rachel glared at them playfully and Jesse scoffed quietly, letting his foot swing from side to side as he sat on a bar of the ladder and Ms. Jenson started pacing back and forth.

"Romance is definitely what the two of you need."

"Good luck with that," Jesse muttered and Rachel slowly turned her head to look at him, her eyebrow arched.

After a moment, Ms. Jenson stopped and looked up at them. "Romance. That's it. Clearly, it's what the two of you need, obviously. We just need to figure out a way to bring it to the stage."

"And how exactly do you expect us to accomplish that?" Rachel said quietly, playing with her fingers. "Jesse can't even talk to me without saying something snide."

He rolled his eyes. "I agree with Rachel." Her eyes widened in surprise. "I don't see how we could get romance if the two of us can't speak civilly to each other."

Ms. Jenson let out a sigh. "Then, _clearly_, the solution is to speak civilly to each other. It may take some time, but work on it. For the sake of the production."

"And until then?"

She was silent for a minute, tapping her lips with her pointer finger. "Well, for this rehearsal, you need romance between the two of you." The two teenagers on the scaffolding nodded slowly. "So… Kiss each other." Mercedes and Kurt instantly stopped the silent conversation they were having and all four of them looked at the teacher with wide eyes. Jesse and Rachel started shaking their heads at the same time. "Yeah. Why not? Kiss each other. Clearly, what you need is romance, kissing is definitely a step to get there. And, it's not like you two haven't done this before. I quote Mr. St. James, 'We are not longer a couple and thus, there is no more love and passion,' meaning you were once in a romantic relationship where there _was _love and passion. You're teenagers. You can't look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't kiss one another in that moment of love and passion."

"You can't be serious," Jesse said, running a hand through his hair quickly.

"Deadly."

Jesse's eyes flashed to Rachel for a moment, and then he laughed. "Nope. Not happening. I'm not kissing her. That doesn't happen on stage."

"Sure it does!" Ms. Jenson said, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you think happens in Broadway productions? Do you think that in Rent, Roger and Mimi didn't kiss? Or Tracy and Link in Hairspray? Or Wendla and BLANK in Spring Awakening?"

"I love that show," Jesse and Rachel said at the same time, looking at each other for a moment before flicking their eyes away.

"Exatly. Do you think that was faked?" They were silent. "No, it wasn't faked. So, go on. Bring in the romance to the show."

Rachel stared down at the script that she and Jesse were sharing, her hair falling in front of her face. "I don't think that's a very good idea, Ms. Jenson. And even if we did kiss, it wouldn't bring romance into the scene because it would be a kiss with no feelings."

"We'll see about that. Now, just kiss each other. Romeo and Juliet are madly in love, so kiss like you are." Jesse chewed vigorously on his lip. "If you don't do it, I'll reassign the parts and both of you will be put in as just extras," she warned, planting her hands defiantly on her hips. "Hop to it."

Jesse put his foot back on the ladder and turned to Rachel, stepping up one bar to he was at eyelevel with her. "She's not going to stop until we do this," Rachel said quietly, putting her hands on the vertical bars to the ladder, her hands just on top of Jesse's.

"Yeah, I know," he said just as quietly. "We'll just get it over with and then we can move on from this childish banter with her."

With a nod, Rachel slowly leaned toward Jesse, looking him in the eyes, slightly scared. "Don't forget…" They pulled away from each other slightly. "Like you're madly in love."

"Madly in love," Jesse mumbled to himself as if it were a reminder.

Rachel was looking sadly at her shoes, her face tilted down slightly. Suddenly, Jesse ducked his head down and smashed his lips to hers, making her lift her head up. She was shocked for a moment, but then she responded to his kiss, her eyes closing slowly as Jesse leaned closer to her. Rachel felt like she was suddenly immersed in fire that curled around her body, warming her from the inside out. Her arms slowly moved from their spot on the ladder to slide up his shoulders before resting on the back of Jesse's neck while he rested his chest on the bars where Rachel's hands were, his own hands drifting to land on her hips while he balanced himself so he wouldn't fall.

A beat passed before Jesse pulled at Rachel's hips, making her step forward so she was pressed against him, the ladder creating an unfortunate barrier between them. He could feel his lips start to tingle. He didn't want to believe they were, but he could feel it. Soon, it started to wash over his face, across his cheeks and up his temples before sliding over the top of his head and settling soundly at the tips of his fingers. The back of his neck, where Rachel's hands were resting softly, felt like someone had put a thousand needles there and it made goose bumps rise on his skin.

After a minute of these feelings, the two of them pulled away from each other, looking into each other's eyes. Rachel let out a quick breath and Jesse swallowed, sucking his lips between his teeth before pulling away fully and looking down at Ms. Jenson. Rachel did the same, her hair creating a curtain between her and Jesse.

"How was that?" he said slightly breathlessly, running a hand through his hair as he tried to get rid of the feeling that was still lingering in his skin.

The teacher started clapping slowly, smiling. "Very well done." They both smiled to themselves. "Now, for the next scene we're going to do, you'll have to do it about twenty more times."

**Yes. REVIEW! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I know, I'm awful, aren't I? Yes, yes I am. Enjoy, chillins. **

"One more time, from the top of the scene," Ms. Jenson said, walking carefully along the edge of the stage in her boots. "Give it a little more emotion."

Jesse and Rachel looked at each other, still in their spots on the scaffolding. "If she says give it more emotion one more time, I'm going to end up screaming my lines through both tears and laughter," Rachel whispered, putting her hands on the bar between her and Jesse. "I'm giving it every emotion I've got and apparently it isn't enough."

"Agreed," he said, flipping the page for the script over to the beginning of the scene. "Maybe if we did exactly that, she would leave us alone."

Rachel laughed a few times before taking a deep breath. She looked at her line, then to Jesse, putting her hand on his face. "Romeo, thou-"

"Hold on, children…" There was the sound of a door opening as someone hooked it against the wall. "We have a visitor," Ms. Jenson said, stepping onto the stage and turning toward the entrance of the theatre. "Mr. Schuster…" Rachel whipped her head to look and Kurt and Mercedes, who were still waiting in the wings. They both looked back at her with raised eyebrows. "Welcome, Mr. Schuster… What can we do for you today?"

Mr. Schue walked up to the edge of the stage, his hands in his pockets. "Hello, Ms. Jenson. Hi, guys. How's rehearsal?" They all just stared at him with open mouths. "Uh-huh… That's great, sounds like you're having a lot of fun. Um… Ms. Jenson, would you mind if I talked to you for a moment?"

The teacher nodded. "Of course… Rachel, Jesse, practice your lines while I talk to Mr. Schue, alright?"

The two of them nodded and watched as Ms. Jenson and Mr. Schuster walked to the back of the theatre, standing in the doorway. They started talking quietly as Jesse looked over to Rachel. He started at her for a long time while she sat down on the scaffolding, pulling the binder with the script in it onto her lap. Her hair was falling in front of her face and slowly she tucked it behind her ear as she bit her lip.

"So… That kiss," Jesse said, ducking under the bar and sitting next to her. "It was, um…"

Rachel looked up at him. "It was good acting, Jesse," she said, an uneasy smile capturing her lips. "Really well done." He opened his mouth to say something, but Rachel just said, "Really. Good. Acting."

Jesse pressed his lips together and smiled halfheartedly, nodding once. "Yeah… Okay, let's, um, look over this script, shall we?"

"Yes, that's a good idea…"

As they started running their lines quietly with each other, Ms. Pillsbury came walking in wearing one of her many get ups; a gray pencil dress with a white blouse underneath, a thin black belt around her waist that matched the black and white heels she had on. Her eyes were wide as she held her hands out by her sides like she was trying to balance on a beam as she walked in from behind the curtain.

"Hello, Jesse… Rachel. What are you doing up on the scaffolding?"

"Rehearsal," they said at the same time, giving her very large smiles.

She smiled, her eyes growing slightly wider. "Well, I just came to talk to your drama teacher. I have a message to pass along from Principal Figgins."

Rachel nodded her head. "She's, um, talking to Mr. Schuster…" Ms. Pillsbury looked at her as if she were waiting for Rachel to tell her where they were talking. "Over there," she said, pointing to the doorway.

They all looked over at the door just in time to see the silhouettes of Ms. Jenson and Mr. Schuster step toward each other, her hands drifting up to his jaw as they embraced each other loosely in a kiss. "Oh," Ms. Pillsbury said sharply, but quietly as she held her hands in front of her looking at the ground. "I'll just, um, I'll come back later then. Bye, kids."

Rachel could hear the hurt in her voice, as could Mercedes and Kurt, who were watching from the sidelines. As she walked out of the theatre, her heels clicking on the wood, the two girls and Kurt looked at each other, Rachel leaning over Jesse slightly. Her brows were pushed together and she bit her lip, Kurt and Mercedes returning the look.

Jesse was leaning back, letting Rachel stare at the other two for a long time before he said, "Rachel… Could you please refrain from leaning over my lap? It's very uncomfortable and I'm starting to get a sore in my back."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said quietly, sitting back up properly as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "… Sorry."

~*~  
When the final bell rang that day, signaling that rehearsal was over, Mercedes, Kurt and Rachel all hurried over to each other with flustered looks on their faces. "Did you see what happened?"  
"Oh, I saw what happened," Mercedes said to Kurt, planting her hands on her hips. "I saw jealousy and hurt, that's what I saw."

"She looked like she was going to cry," Rachel said sadly as they all headed to Kurt's car. The hallways were packed with people trying to get home and they charged through the crowd without getting pushed down. "It was terrible."

Mercedes nodded in agreement as they reached the parking lot. "Guys, we gotta do something about this. It ain't good. Ms. Pillsbury's nice, and Mr. Schue likes her, he just… Doesn't know it. He's in too much confusion since the divorce with Lady Crazy-Ass." The two others nodded at her words. "So, really. A plan would be nice."

"Tomorrow," Kurt said as he tossed his bag into the car. "Tomorrow during glee club, we'll talk to him. He listens to us, so he has to see that what we have to see is just… The truth."

"Good plan." Kurt and Mercedes climbed into the car. "You coming Rachel? We're gonna hit the mall."

She looked in to the car from Kurt's window, giving them a smile. "You know, I think I'm gonna stay behind. I've got some school work that I want to get done in the peace and quiet and we all know that I won't get that at home with my dads. You guys have fun!"

Without argument, the two of them pulled out of the parking lot. Rachel let out a sigh and headed back toward the auditorium. Mike was standing there, waiting, with his hands on his hips. The jazz band and Brad were on the stage, setting up for the performance that Rachel was about to do. She set her binders on a stool and walked over to the tall Asian who was grinning at her.

"Mike, I don't think this is a good idea."

He instantly rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Rachel, what is wrong with you? I swear, you're usually willing to do just about anything to get Finn's attention. What's stopping you now?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just not sure this is what I want to do for attention."

Mike slammed a bedazzled microphone into her hand. "It'll work. Have a little faith in me, would you please. Now… Sing."

Before Rachel was even ready, Brad started playing the piano intro to the song Mike had picked and she took a deep breath as he disappeared from the stage and she was left alone with the band.

_Everybody needs a little time away,  
I heard her say, from each other.  
Even lovers need a holiday,  
far away, from each other.  
_

Just as Mike a predicted, Finn appeared in the theatre, on the back steps with his arms crossed over his chest. He slowly descended the stairs and the two of them made eye contact. Rachel's heart nearly stopped when she saw the expression on his face and she wanted to die. No. She wanted to stop singing.

_Hold me now.  
It's hard for me to say I'm sorry.  
I just want you to stay.  
After all that we've been through.  
I will make it up to you, I promise you.  
And after all that's been said and done.  
You're just the part of me I can't let go._

He was standing no less than five feet away from the stage now, his face blank as Rachel's voice filled the theatre and the music swelled slightly.

_Couldn't stand to be kept away,  
Just for the day, from your body.  
Wouldn't want to be swept away,  
far away, from the one that I love._

To Rachel's surprise, Finn placed his hands on the side of the stage and hoisted himself up with a surprising amount of grace before slowly walking toward her. Rachel could hear him humming the song.

_Hold me now._

_It's hard for me to say I'm sorry.  
I just want you to know.  
Hold me now.  
I really want to tell you I'm sorry.  
I could never let you go._

He began to sing with her then, taking her free hand in his as they both harmonized on the chorus. Rachel smiled through the words when Finn's lips turned up in a grin.

_After all that we've been through.  
I will make it up to you.  
I promise you.  
And after all that's been said and done.  
You're just a part of me I can't let go.  
_

Rachel grew silent and for once in her life, she let someone else take the solo.

_After all that we've been through.  
I will make it up to.  
I promise to.  
_

Holding each other in a tight embrace the two of them finished the song through tears on Rachel's part, and laughter on Finn's.

_You're gonna be the lucky one._

They were quiet for a long time. The two of them only stood there, hugging one another, for twenty minutes, Rachel sniffling into Finn's sleeve. "You're sorry?" he said after a long time, his fingers stroking her hair once before they pulled away from each other.

She nodded, wiping her nose sloppily. Rachel didn't seem to care that she was sobbing now. "I'm so sorry, Finn," she stuttered through her tears. "You're my best friend and I love you and I can't stand the thought of you being mad at me, and I just-"

Finn stepped forward and put his hand over her mouth softly to silence her. "I'm sorry, too, Rachel," he said, putting both hands on her shoulders when she calmed down slightly. She gave him a big, teary eyed look that made him smile. "You're my best friend, too. I was acting like a jerk. Can you forgive me?"

Rachel's sobs instantly turned to laughs and she threw her arms around his neck in delight. Finn laughed along with her, holding her to him tightly as he picked her up off the ground and spun her around, Rachel's moccasins flying off her feet and landing somewhere in the audience.

"I missed you," she said into his shoulder when the spinning stopped and her feet were dangling in the air as Finn continued to hug her.

He sighed resting his forehead against hers when she lifted her head. "I know. I missed you, too."

They both grinned, laughed, and the spinning began again.

**I hope you guys like it. It's kind of a shit chapter, but I'm pretty sure this is the only story where I'm actually following the plot line I made. Yeah. Kind of sad, isn't it. Well, anyway, I hope you liked it and, um, yeah. **

**LIKE, COMMENT, SUBSCRIBE! :) (© RolyUngashaaHD from YouTube. Anyone get the reference? Yes, no? Whatever. Bye!) **


	15. Chapter 15

**So. Hi! We're back for more Total Eclipse of the Heart! YES! :)**

The very next day, Puck, Rachel and Quinn sat in the choir room waiting for glee practice to start. Quinn had her nose buried in a Nicholas Cage book. Puck and Rachel were discussing the recent horror movie they had seen. Rachel was arguing that it was one of the most terrible horror movies she had ever seen, but Puck was saying otherwise.

"How can I convince you, Rach, that _Psycho_ is a perfectly respectable horror movie?"

"You simply can't." Puck groaned and smacked his hand to his forehead. "I have to admit, I scare easily when watching horror movies, especially ones about spirits and such, but _Psycho _honestly did not frighten me a single bit."

Puck turned to her. "But, it's one of the greatest horror movies of all time!" he said, gripping the back of his chair. "It was the first horror movie ever made, Rachel! You have to give it credit for that."

"And because it's so old, it was not horrifying or scary in any ways that it should be."

"You jumped during the shower scene, Rachel."

The brunette flicked her hair over her shoulder. "No, I didn't."

"Rachel, listen to me," Puck said, turning in his chair to face her fully. "_Psycho _is one of the greatest horror movies of all time. It was done my Alfred Hitchcock. You can't beat that, okay? This movie, no matter how old it is, will always be a classic."

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. "It may be a classic, but it's a classic that didn't scare me a single bit."

Puck threw his arms up in the air. "I give up. There is no convincing you, honestly."

"Well, _honestly_, there is no need to convince me. I know it's one of the greatest horror movies of all time, I really do. What you're trying to do, Mr. Puckerman, is convince me that I was scared, when I wasn't. If you think it was that scary, then that is evidence that you were scared, weren't you, Noah?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Now, you wait just a minute, Ms. Berry. I have every reason to-"

"I hate to break this up," Mercedes said as she walked into the choir room with Kurt following behind her, "but, today we are discussing something more important than horror movies."

"What could possibly be more important than horror movies?" Puck said as more of the glee club came filing in behind the two of them.

"Mr. Schuster," Kurt said, sitting in front Puck and on one side of Rachel, since Quinn had claimed the other side. "We're talking about him and Ms. Jenson? Remember?"

Puck frowned and ran a hand over his Mohawk. "Um, no?"

"Well, we are."

Santana inspected her cuticles. "Who of us cares that Mr. Schuster is banging the drama teacher? Why should we care?"

Mercedes and Kurt stared at her. "_Because_," they said at the same time. "Mr. Schue will go bat-shit crazy if he doesn't get with the lady who _is _bat-shit crazy."

"That doesn't make sense," Matt said, sitting down in the only plastic chair left.

"Of course it makes sense," Mike responded from his spot on the radiator, where he had is legs crossed in the lotus position and his hands on his knees, pointer finger tucked under his thumb and his other three fingers splayed out. "It all makes perfect sense..."

Puck turned around and stared at his friend. "And who are you to say whether or not it makes sense?"

"I'm Mike Chang. I can see things that none of you can-"

"Yeah, like scary magical unicorns. Seriously, dude, you need to stop smoking pot," Puck snapped.

Mike opened his eyes and glared at his Mohawked friend. "Excuse me... You are not one to be talking, sir. I do not let myself fall under influences of drugs, alcohol or any such nonsense because it is bad for your brain, and your brain, as we all know, is the most important thing in your body." Puck grumbled something no one could hear. "But, in any case, we are talking about Mr. Schuster and Ms. Jenson, not torturous drugs."

"Right," Mercedes said. "We know that Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury are in love. It's obvious. And even if it's not with Mr. Schuster, it is with Ms. Pillsbury. She walked into our _Rom & Jul _rehearsal and you could see she was more than upset about the fact that Mr. Schuster and Ms. Jenson were kissing. If we don't do something about them, then Mr. Schue will be done for."

"And what do you mean by that?" Quinn said, finally looking up from her book.

Rachel turned to look at her friend. "Have you seen the way Mr. Schuster has been acting recently? He hasn't _once _talked about Regionals for almost three weeks and the only thing he's had us work on is an idol assignment, which I'm pretty sure has been forgotten about." Everyone in the room nodded something in agreement to her statement. "Not to mention he's getting rather distracted lately. First, being late to rehearsal because of Ms. Jenson, then calling off rehearsal when she asked him to go to a meeting with him."

"Yeah, but, Rach, that was a school meeting; he had to go to that."

"He wouldn't have if she hadn't reminded him."

Santana, who was still looking at her nails, scoffed. "I say we just don't meddle in it. It's not our business and I'm pretty sure no one in this room except you, Mercedes and Kurt are the only ones who give a fuck, dwarf." Rachel frowned. "Just pull your overly stuffed head back into your world of show choir and heinous skirts so we can all get back to our own lives, would you please?"

Rachel gasped, but instead of one that was offended, it sounded rather sarcastic. "Oh, and you said, 'please'!" Santana was about to say something, but Rachel continued. "Look, if we don't do something about Mr. Schuster, then we won't have even a _chance _at winning Regionals, and isn't that what we've been working toward all year?" Everyone who had been arguing with her looked at the ground. "Regionals is important to all of us, I know that. Do you want to ruin your opportunities or do you want to help Mr. Schue and have him help us instead of going to the competition as unprepared as possible, which is as close to sending a lamb to the slaughter as we can get?"

Artie had been quiet for most of this interaction and finally he spoke up. "I agree with Rachel. Glee club is all any of us have-"

"Not all of us," Santana said in a snide voice.

He turned his wheelchair to face her. "Shut up, Santana. Glee club is more of a family than the Cheerios will ever be."

Quinn smiled at Artie. "Here, here."

"And, if we want to win Regionals, then we really need to work hard. We used to be close as a family and we've fallen apart recently. If we want to get closer together, then we need to work or it, together, as a team."

"Artie, I couldn't agree more!" The entire glee club jumped in their seats when Mr. Schuster came walking into the room with a giant pile of papers in his arms that he looked like he couldn't handle. "We need to work our butts off if Regionals if something we are setting to win."

The glee club mumbled things to themselves and they slumped in their chairs. Everyone except Rachel. "Actually, Mr. Schuster, that's something we all wanted to talk to you about." The Spanish teacher frowned. "We think, respectfully of course, and you definitely shouldn't take this as something personal because we do love you and care about you. We want what's best for you which is why I say that..." Mr. Schuster raised his eyebrows expectantly. "We think that Ms. Jenson is distracting you. You've changed since you started dating her."

Mr. Schuster put his pile of papers down in the piano and walked around it so he could face them. "How did you guys know about that?"

"Well, for one thing, you openly kissed her during our play rehearsal..." Mr. Schuster let out a sigh and closed his eyes painfully. "And, on my way to a rehearsal about a week ago, I stumble upon you two in the hallway."

He nodded. "I see. None of you were supposed to find out about that-"

"You kind of blew that one, Mr. Schue," Puck said, resting his elbows on his knees.

"-But, no matter who I'm with, it is not your place to address personal matters, especially with me, someone who teaches you."

Mercedes adjusted her blue fedora. "But, Mr. Schuster, we're only trying to do what's best for you, and for the glee club..." she said in a rational voice, leaning forward slightly. "Things have been different around here since you got together with her. Rehearsals have been canceled, cut short and nothing at all has been done about Regionals, which is only in a few weeks, like Rachel said."

"It was so different when you were with Ms. Pillsbury."

"What does Ms. Pillsbury have to do with any of this, Rachel?"

The petite girl held her own hands tightly in her lap. "Well... When- When you were with her, everything seemed so much simpler when you two were together..."

Mr. Schuster started rummaging through the papers he had brought in. "I think it's time that this conversation ends, don't you? Why don't we focus on what I have planned for today's rehearsal."

"Oh, we're actually having a rehearsal today?" Finn grumbled form the corner.

"Hey, watch it, Finn," he suddenly snapped, pointing a pencil in the direction of the football player. "I am telling you all now, you're being disrespectful and completely unfair and unreasonable to me. We're a family, aren't we supposed to support one another?"

"We are, Mr. Schuster, but you're not doing so whenever Ms. Jenson is involved!" Rachel said as her voice grew upset.

Mike stepped up from the radiator and sat on the riser that was behind Rachel. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Ms. Jenson is distracting you, Mr. Schuster. Ms. Pillsbury kept you going. It was right with her... You should be with Ms. Pillsbury."

"Now this conversation is really ending. I don't want to hear any more about this, guys. We're starting rehearsal. Now."

"But, Mr. Schuster, if you would just listen to us, then-"

"Enough!" the teacher shouted, causing Rachel to shriek when he interrupted her as he slammed his hands on the enormous stack of paper, making the sheets slide out and scatter across the room. "I am sick and tired of this! I don't want to hear any more, do you understand? This ends now."

The entire glee club fell silent and looked at the ground. Mike's hand found it's way to Rachel's and he held it tightly in the most comforting way he could. He could see tears forming in her eyes. Mercedes and Kurt looked like someone had kicked them in the chest. Everyone else was quiet.

"Rehearsal is over. You can all go home."

Instantly, everyone shot from their chairs and started packing up their bags without a word just as Jesse walked into the choir room. "I apologize for being late. I had to deal with something important involving school." He noticed everyone was packing their bags. "Are we going to the theatre?"

"Rehearsal's over, dude," Matt said as he passed. "Yoda and his droids couldn't keep their bleeps silent."

"Told you it wasn't a good idea," Puck mumbled to Rachel, who had a single tear rolling down her face that he didn't notice.

"Shut up, Puckerman," Mike said, putting both hands on Rachel's shoulders. "None of us knew this was going to happen, don't blame the grasshopper."

Despite her sadness, Rachel laughed at Mike's words and felt a little better. Puck nodded and apologized to her. Rachel hugged him quickly before linking her arm through Quinn's. The three of them walked out of the choir room and headed to the parking lot. As they all shoved themselves into the front seat, Quinn patted her belly with, despite the baby inside, was feeling rather empty.

"You know something?"

"What?" Puck said in a distracted voice as he pulled out of the school parking lot.

Rachel turned to her friend. "Are you hungry?"

Quinn grinned. "I vote Gray's Pizza place..."

Puck let his head fall on the steering wheel for a split second. "Why do you have to eat all the fucking time, Fabray?"

"Because. I'm hungry." The two others raised their eyebrows at her. "Now. Give me food!"

**Okay, there we go. Chapter 15. REVIEW CHILLENS! :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**It's been a while, I know. My computer is having some hormonal problems, so I'm trying to use as any family member's computers as possible. Right now, since my sisters (Who have the fast Macbooks) are off at college, I'm stuck with my father's slightly fast PC Compaq. Oh, how I wish my computer was fixed!**

After a nice meal at Guy's Pizza, and after Puck and Quinn had dropped Rachel off at her house, she was walking up her walkway, trying to think about all the happy things that had happened in her life to keep her spirits up. Up until sophomore year, she had been doing a great job, but then she got to the part where Jesse broke up with her and the high spirits came tumbling down to the ground.

She took a deep breath. She didn't want to think about that. As she fumbled around in her backpack for the key to her house, she heard someone say, "Hello, Rachel," from beside her.

Rachel let out a scream and pressed her rape whistle between her lips. She was about to let out a long warning to the surrounding houses when she saw Jesse St. James sitting in the swing hanging from the porch roof. He was swinging back and forth slightly.

"What are you doing here, Jesse?" she said, shoving the key into the lock and opening the door.

He stood from the chair, a shoebox tucked under his arm. "I just came by to give you back everything you gave me."

Jesse nearly forced the box into her hands "Oh..." Rachel opened the box and looked through it. Photobooth pictures, a sheet of glod stars, 'Hello' sheet music, a piano key chain, her lucky balley ribbon and other various objects were resting inside. She frowned and pulled out a ticket to when they saw an off-broadway performance of _Spring Awakening_. "Jesse, this is your ticket. Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because I went and saw the show with you. I'm trying to rid myself of everything that reminds me of you, Rachel."

She tried to ignore the burning feeling that was building up behind her eyes. "Well, then, in that case, I should do the same." Rachel started to walk into her house. "You can either wait out here, in the cold, or you can come inside while I pack up the box."

Jesse followed her in. Rachel was already up the stairs to her room and he followed her there as well, stopping in the doorway as she bustled around her room, shoving various memorabilia into a box. She was nearly ripping pictures from her mirror as she placed-threw-them into the box. Lastly, she snatched the pink CareBear off her bed and shoved it in the box as well.

"But- I won that for you, Rachel. It was a symbol of our love. You don't want to keep it?" he said in a slightly hurt voice.

Rachel's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me?" She slapped the box he gave her down on her bed, threw open the top and pulled out a stuffed panda bear that had _Jesse _sewn on it's foot. "I won you this, too. You're giving it back to me. Why can't I gave that one back to you?"

Jesse hugged the CareBear to his chest. "Fine. I see your point, Rachel." Slowly, with narrowed eyes, they exchanged the bears, Rachel setting the CareBear back on her bed and Jesse placing the panda in his box.

Things were silent between them for a long time as they just stared t each other. Rachel was still angry at his hypocricy. "Are you just going to stand there?" Jesse shook his had. "Very well. I will show you to the door."

She ushered him out of her room and lead him to the front door, holding it open for him before nearly pushing him out of the house. "Thank you for this unpleasent exchange of possessions," she said in an icy tone that made even him cringe.

Jesse nodded, hugging the box to his chest. "Unpleasent indeed. I would say we should do this again, but, it probably won't be happening seeing as-"

"Seeing as you have broken up with me and clearing have no intensions of getting back together, since you have so rudely shown up at my house without asking and just cold-heartedly given back all the things that were supposed to be yours forever?"

"That's was mean."

Rachel gave him a sarcastic smile. "Well, I learn from the best." He frowned. "It was lovely seeing you, Mr. St. James, but if you'll excuse me, there are more important things that need my attending to. You, Jesse, are wasting my time. Good day."

Then, without another word, she shut the door in his face and locked it loudly. When she heard Jesse walking away, she leaned against the cold wood and rested her head against that. "Where did that come from?" she said to herself. "Wow..."

Rachel bent down for her backpack and pulled out her cell phone, dialing Quinn's number. "Hello?" her friend said after only one ring.

"Jesse was just here."

"He was? What happened?"

Rachel started circling her house. "He brought me back all of my things. And I gave him all of his. He was upset I was giving back his CareBear, but he was giving me back Panda Jesse, so I thought it was only right. I ended up keeping the CareBear, and he kept Panda Jesse, but after that exchange, it was weird. I was acting quite cold to him."

"Cold how?"

She stopped in the kitchen and pulled a container of lemon Italian ice from the freeze and a spoon from the drawer. "Pardon my French, but everytime I spoke to him, I was acting like quite a bitch. Every comment was rude, and sarcastic. It was the complete opposite of me. When he left, he seened quite upset."

Quinn sounded like she was thinking, which was quite a hard thing to sound like, but Rachel could hear the gears turning. "Well, this is a strange turn of events."

"What does it mean?"

"Well, I could tell you, but you're probably not going to like it."

Rachel made her way up to her room, grabbing the four _Scream _movies from the living room as she did. "I think I can handle it..."

"... Okay... Well, first of all..."  
~*~

As Jesse made his way to his car, he kept mulling over what had just happened. Rachel had been acting strange. Although he was, yes, very angry with her about everything, all he had wanted to do was try and have a fresh start-to be a new person after the break up. She made it seem like he was destroying her life. It didn't make him feel too good. In fact, it made him feel kind of shitty.

He didn't like that feeling. It made him feel queezy inside, like he was going to throw up. As he climbed into his car and pulled away, he turned on his radio and selected a CD he had inside.

_This is Jesse, __**and Rachel**_ _And this is our mix. _Suddenly, a song that they had picked together to symbolize their love started playing. They had made an entire CD of favorite love songs. He had forgotten that was something he was supposed to give back to her. He didn't want to turn around though. He liked this song.

As Jesse began to sing along, he felt more and more terrible about what had happened back at Rachel's house. Jesse had turned around a driven past that perfectly white house about ten times, but everytime he was about to pull into her driveway, her words flooded his brain.

_"It was lovely seeing you, Mr. St. James, but if you'll excuse me, there are more important things that need my attending to. You, Jesse, are wasting my time. Good day."_

He would always keep driving. When he got home after an hour of driving around like that, it was almost ten o'clock and his parents weren't home. They were doctors, of course they weren't home. He stormed inside, tossing the box from Rachel onto his piano. A few of the trinkets inside fell out of the box and made the strings from the baby grand twang quietly.

Jesse headed straight for his father's liquer cabinet. _Don't do it, _a little voice inside his head said, making him stop dead in his tracks. _Oh, but just a little bit won't hurt, _another one said. _She broke his heart. He can make some of that pain go away, can't he_?

"Yes, I very much can," Jesse said to himself, pulling the glass door open and selecting the beverage for his very first drink in his life, since alcohol isn't really good for your vocal chords-Jack Daniel's.  
~*~


	17. Chapter 17

**Okay, and now, a new chapter. I hope you guys like it! :) Don't forget to review! **

Rachel's weekend after her visit from Jesse was uneventful. She worked off most of her anger, frustration, and emotion on her elliptical, blaring the _Wicked _sound track on her iHome as loud as she could. Her fathers even knocked on her door a few times, telling her to please turn it down, but she didn't. Rachel simply pushed and pushed her legs until they physically couldn't go anymore and the complete exhaustion wiped out any other emotion she had.

After a shower and a meal of green beans, rice, and tofu chicken, Rachel put on her sweatpants and a t-shirt before settling into bed with her laptop on her nightstand as it played the latest horror movie Puck had told her to watch: _Cabin in the Woods. _Finding it more interesting than scary, Rachel's eyes started drooping closed and she slept for the rest of the weekend.

On Monday, she woke and showered, dressed and climbed into her car to head to school. She had chemistry first, her only class with Jesse, and she was dreading it. After that Friday, she wanted to try and stay as far away from his as possible. When Mike had texted her about potential plans to try and win him back, she had ignored it. It didn't seem worth it anymore. Jesse was officially eschewing her from his life.

"Hey," Quinn said to the brunette when they encountered each other in the hall way. "How are you? I didn't hear from you all weekend."

Rachel nodded. "I was really tired. I slept a lot," she said dismissively, hugging her binders tightly to her chest as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. The two of them started walking toward Rachel's chemistry class. "How are you?"

Quinn bit her lip. "I was okay. I had an eventful weekend." Rachel looked at her friend with raised eyebrows as she waited for more information. "Puck had Matt and Mike over and they played with his little sister," she said, biting her lip to keep from smiling. "Knowing Mike, and knowing Joey, it was pretty entertaining."

A small smile formed on Rachel's lips. "That sounds fun," she said, waiting for more, but Quinn fell silent.

"What about you? How was your weekend?"

Rachel thought back to the forty-eight hours where she had stayed in bed and barely eaten anything. Instead of telling this to Quinn, she simply shrugged and said, "I stayed home. Nothing happened. My fathers visited my aunt, but that was all…"

"You didn't go see her?" Rachel shook her head. "Why not?"

"I was otherwise engaged."

"You spent the weekend in bed, didn't you?" she accused, planting on of her hands on her wide hip.

Rachel glared at her friend. "_No,_ I most certainly did _not_."

Quinn's eyebrow arched. "Then, what were you otherwise engaged with, Rach?"

They stared at each other for a long time, their eyes narrowing, until Rachel couldn't take it anymore and she caved in. "Okay, _fine_. I spent the weekend in bed. Is that such a problem?" she asked, hugging her arms tightly and kicking her argyle sock clad foot back and forth.

"No, not really. Unless you were in bed because of Jesse. Then we have a problem." Rachel looked down at the toes of her black flats. "You _did _stay in bed because of Jesse, didn't you?" Still, Rachel said nothing. "Come on, Rachel… What happened wasn't that bad."

"It wasn't just his visit and the horrendous trade off of our belongings. It was that it had gotten to the point where he felt the need to return anything that reminded him of me. That really means the relationship is over, doesn't it?"

Quinn shook her head. "Not true. You can always get back together with him. You never know."

"Staying in bed seems more simple."

"I wish I could have stayed in bed all weekend."

"Why didn't you?"

Quinn averted eye contact for a moment, looking at the people walking by before she said, "Joey. We had to take care of her. Their mom still isn't back yet."

Rachel nodded once. "Oh, that's good. That you were taking care of her, not that their mom isn't back yet."

"Yeah…" The warning bell ricocheted off the walls as it blared through the speakers in the school and the two girls looked at each other. "Well, time for another day of mediocre education," she said with a smile, giving Rachel a quick hug before trailing off to her first block class.

Rachel stood in the hallway for a moment as the crowd thinned out before she started trudging to the chemistry wing for class. She made it to the classroom just as the final bell was ringing. Dr. Hambrow had just starting writing down the agenda on the white board when she sat down at a lab bench and put her books aside.

"Alright, is everybody here? Good," The doctor said without even waiting for an answer. "Today, we are going to be doing an experiment with coins, and the metals. I assume you all did the homework?" he inquired, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, for those of you who didn't, you're going to be lost and confused today, because it was an introduction into the lab we're doing today. For those of you who did, good job. You'll go places in life."

A few of the students laughed. Rachel's lips just curled into a smile. "Okay, now, pick up a lab at the front of the room, get your safety goggles, and find your lab partners!"

Rachel stayed still, watching Jesse as he moved from across the room, gathering up his books and snatching a packet off Dr. Hambrow's desk as he headed to the lab bench that Rachel was sitting at.

"I-" He cleared his throat. "I got you a lab," he said, his voice faltering a few times.

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Jesse. That was very nice of you."

He nodded once. "You're welcome." They were silent as they began filling out the basic information on the lab as Mr. Hambrow started handing out the lab supplies to all the partners. "Do- Do we have goggles here?"

Rachel reached out and pulled open a supply cabinet where a container of goggles sat. She grabbed two pairs and handed one to him. "Here."

"Thanks."

They finished the questions quickly, then sat in silence. Rachel bit her lip repeatedly, feeling the soft skin on the side start to feel a little bumpy from her teeth. Jesse bounced his knee a few times. Mr. Hambrow passed by, putting a tray of supplies on their bench and stared at them when they didn't move.

"What? Are you just going to sit there like a pile of lazy bones, or are you going to get to work?" he asked with a smile, chuckling when they started moving right away, setting up their supplies for the experiment.

Rachel pulled in the heating tablet while Jesse weighed out some powder and mixed it with a zinc oxide. _Now's your chance_, Rachel thought to herself. _You can talk to him about everything that happened. He can't go anywhere. He's in class. He's stuck. Talk to him. _

"So, Jesse," she said, sanding any rust off of three, old pennies with a bundle of steel wool. "I just wanted to, um, to talk to you."

He looked at her for a moment before returning to measuring the oxide into a graduated cylinder. "About what?"

"About the music video. About what happened with us."

"Listen, Rachel, I don't want to talk about this. We're in class."

"I- I know. But, there is never really any other time that-"

"Can you hand me one of the pennies?" he said, interrupting her as he held out his hand for the coin. Rachel silently handed it to him. "Thank you."

She nodded once. "You're welcome."

After that, Rachel fell silent. She watched as Jesse boiled the mixture of powder and oxide with two pennies inside inside, turning a shade of silver from the concoction. When they were both coated in silver, Jesse pulled one of the coins out and dropped it on the hot plate. It started to turn bronze.

"Jesse, I'm sorry," she suddenly blurted, causing him to look at her with his eyes wide behind the safety goggles. "I'm sorry about what happened between the two of us. I wish I could change it. But, I- I can't. I'm hoping, though, that maybe, as a couple, we can work through it."

He put down the tongs in his hand and looked at her with a blank look. "We're not a couple, Rachel," Jesse said as the bell rang. He gathered up his books and threw his goggles down on the bench. "You ruined any chance of that…"

Rachel, for the second time in her life, watched Jesse walk away from her with tears in her eyes. She turned off the hot plate and threw all their supplies in the trash, washing what needed to be cleaned and putting away everything else. Gathering up her books and jacket, Rachel made her way to the auditorium, where she knew she could be alone. As always, it was empty and she placed her things in one of the chairs before slowly climbing up the stairs and onto the stage.

Clearing her throat once, Rachel turned around to see Brad walking on from back stage to the piano. He looked at her expectantly and she said, "_Us, _Brad, if you don't mind."

The man sat down at the piano and nodded once, cracking his fingers before settling them on the keys and starting the melody of the song. Rachel looked out into the audience in her mind, pictured bright lights, her name on the sign at Broadway, her love sitting in the front row.

_They made a statue of us_

_And it put it on a mountain top_

_Now tourists come and stare at us_

_Blow bubbles with their gum_

_Take photographs have fun, have fun_

_They'll name a city after us_

_And later say it's all our fault_

_Then they'll give us a talking to_

_Then they'll give us a talking to_

_Because they've got years of experience_

_We're living in a den of thieves_

_Rummaging for answers in the pages_

_We're living in a den of thieves_

_And it's contagious_

_And it's contagious_

_And it's contagious_

_And it's contagious_

Rachel heard the door open and her breath caught slightly. No one came in here during second block, she knew, and she wondered who it was as the silhouette of the person disappeared when the door shut and they sat down in one of the chairs. She cleared her throat and clutched her microphone tighter in her hands.

_We wear our scarves just like a noose_

_But not 'cause we want eternal sleep_

_And though our parts are slightly used_

_New ones are slave labor you can keep_

_We're living in a den of thieves_

_Rummaging for answers in the pages_

_We're living in a den of thieves_

_And it's contagious_

_And it's contagious_

_And it's contagious_

_And it's contagious _

Rachel looked at the one person audience that ruined her day dream, but relaxed slightly when she saw that familiar Mohawk appear in front of her as Puck walked up the stairs to the stage.

_They made a statue of us_

_They made a statue of us _

Rachel's eyebrows rose when Puck started singing a song that she was surprised he knew. He stood close to her so his voice could echo through the microphone and to the theater like hers did.

_**The tourists come and stare at us**_

_**The sculptor's marble sends regards**_

_**They made a statue of us**_

_**They made a statue of us **_

They sang together, facing the empty seats as Rachel held the microphone for them both and stood close to each other. Rachel felt his arm slip around her shoulders.

_**Our noses have begun to rust**_

_**We're living in a den of thieves**_

_**Rummaging for answers in the pages**_

_**Were living in a den of thieves **_

The piano music began to die down and Puck and Rachel silenced themselves, just standing on the stage in silence for a while before he turned, looked at her, and said, "So, what's wrong?"

She looked up at him with a frown, her brow furrowed together while his was arched to nearly his hairline. "Nothing is wrong, Noah," Rachel said, pushing her hair out of her face and sniffing once.

"Rachel, you're crying."

Her hands flew to her face and her fingers touched her cheeks, feeling the wetness of the tears she didn't know where there. "Oh, I'm- Sorry," she said, turning on her heel and dropping the microphone on the floor.

It thudded through the auditorium as she ran from the stage, her hands pressed to her cheeks in an attempt to cool them. "Wait, Rach!" Puck called, chasing after her and grabbing her arms before she made it out of the theater. "What's wrong?" he said, spinning her around to look at her.

"Nothing, really, it's nothing."

"I know you well enough to know it's not nothing, Rach. Is it Jesse?" She shook her head once, but then nodded, her shoulders falling limp as her posture slumped. "Why? What happened?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. "We are assigned partners in Chemistry. I- I tried to talk to him, succeeded in apologizing but, he said I ruined everything, ruined any chance we had. And then he left. I had to watch him walk away from me again, Noah, and it hurt so much…"

Puck's hands moved from her arms to pulled her close and wrap his arms around her in a tight hug. Rachel gripped the fabric of his shirt tightly in her balled up fists, her face pressed into his buff chest as she attempted to steady her faltering breath due to the tears that were starting to form in her eyes again.

"Don't cry, Rachel," Puck whispered when she took a shaking breath in and let it out slowly. "Come on, you don't need to cry. Jesse's being a douche bag. I know I used to shit on you all the time, but you're a pretty cool person. You know what you want and you strive to get it. You don't stop until you do. You like horror movies and video games. You're a closet geek, and that's pretty cool. Jesse just doesn't get that…"

Rachel looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest as she smiled. "Thank you, Noah," she said quietly, letting the last of her tears fall before wiping her eyes and standing up. "Thank you."

He shrugged. "You're welcome… Just… Don't tell anyone I said that."

"I promise," she said with a laugh, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hey, listen," Puck said, crossing his arms over his chest and taking a step toward her. "I don't really have important classes today. I was thinking of going home, plus I have to pick up Joey anyway. If you want to come with me, you can…"

Rachel's jaw dropped. "Noah, it's only nine o'clock! School doesn't end for another four hours!"

He snorted once. "So? Who cares?"

"I do! I can't skip school, Noah. I have a perfect attendance record."

"Well, I don't, so, come on. We're gonna go get my sister, and then we're gonna go back to my house and play some Halo 9."

"Won't Quinn mind if the two of us are hanging out together, by ourselves?"

He shrugged once. "Nah, not really. We got into a fight today, we need some time apart..."

Rachel frowned. "A fight? About what?"

"Breakfast." Her eyes began to roll. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Rachel Berry." Her lips curled up into a smile as she did just the, exaggerating the action with a head roll. "So, what do you say, midget?"

Her lip twitched as she tired not to smile. "Noah-"

"Rachel."

Without another word, Puck grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her out of the auditorium, down the hallway and to the office where they both signed out due to ailment and family requirements before pulling out of the parking lot and heading to Sunshine Daycare where Joey was waiting.  
~*~

Rachel hadn't hung out with Puck one on one much in her life. A few times when they were younger—growing up on the same block had opened many opportunities for their parents to dump the child on the other family when something needed to be done—and when the two of them had been dating they had 'hung out' in Puck's words, but Rachel preferred to call it sharing intimate moments, then there were the recent times when Rachel and Quinn started to become friends.

But, hanging out with him now, when she was more mature, and alone, Rachel found Puck different. Being with him was different. As soon as they were inside and Joey and Freddy were distracted with Disney music and toys, Puck told Rachel to make herself at home while he got something to eat because it was almost time for second breakfast. He asked if she wanted anything, and a few seconds later, Rachel found herself perusing Puck's fridge in search of something low in fat and rid of the meat she couldn't stand to put in her system.

In the end, she settled on a container of pasta that Puck heated up for her, adding some butter and salt to it for taste. "You're weird," Puck said as he dug into his left over hamburger, the grease dripping down his chin.

Rachel laughed and threw a napkin at him. "Says the boy who tears apart his hamburger like he hasn't eaten for years. It's barbaric."

"I'm a man, Rachel, what do you expect?"

The two of them sat down in the TV room, two bottles of root beer in front of them, as Puck turned on the game console. "Not much. Not from you anyway."

Puck rolled his eyes at her and Rachel smiled. He handed her the controller and a headset, which she slipped over her ears. Puck started up the game and the two of them instantly jumped into a round of saving people and shooting enemies. Every once and while, Puck would look over from his side of a screen to look at Rachel, who was sitting on the edge of her seat, back rigid, fingers flying over the control as she mumbled into her headphones.

It was interesting seeing this side of Rachel Berry, the girl who you would think would cry at the idea of playing video games and would hide her face in a pillow when watching _Paranormal Activity _instead of sitting on the edge of her seat, clutching her hands as she waited for the next thing to happen. A girl who rambles and rants at twenty miles an hour and uses words so long, Puck sometimes thinks the dictionary would have a hard time spelling them out. A girl who dresses in short skirts and argyle sweaters and socks that pull up to her knees.

It was strange to him. But, he had to admit, it was pretty damn cool.

**Puckleberry friendship, and some St. Berry issues. More later! :) **


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey, so, I'm not dead. :) **

Rachel was snuggled on her couch, a blanket tucked tightly around her shoulders as she perused the horror movie options on Netflix. The pickings were slim, and she settled on a terrible film called _Slither_, which seemed to be about mutant slug sex. She wasn't interested in watching a movie, however. Mike was supposed to be coming over to talk about what had happened with Jesse that morning in Chemistry class, but Rachel's mind was on Quinn and Puck. Ever since Quinn had seemed slightly distracted when the two of them bumped into each other in the halls, and when Puck had mentioned that he and Quinn had gotten into a fight, she was concerned for her two friends. She knew that the baby was putting so much pressure on the both of them and that strings were pulled tight. It was only a matter of time before the snapped.

The sudden ring of a doorbell flung Rachel from her thoughts. She pushed herself off the couch; the blanket still pulled tight and sauntered over to the door. The bell rang again.

"Alright, I'm coming!" she called lightly, her hand shooting out from behind the blanket to pull the door open. "Quinn," Rachel said in shock, staring at the disgruntled blonde that was sniffling on her stoop. "What's wrong?"

"I am done with him!" Quinn shrieked, causing a dog in the distance to bark. "Completely done!"

"Why don't you come inside and we'll talk?" Rachel said, holding the door open as Quinn stormed into the house and dropped a backpack down on the ground.

"What happened?" Rachel said, pausing the movie and turning to her friend.

Quinn rubbed her hands on her legs a few times as she took deep breaths. "We had just put Joey to sleep. Tonight was good, compared to this morning. We got into a fight about breakfast and-"

"I know, he told me," Rachel interrupted, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Alright. Well, tonight, we all sat down and had a nice dinner with Joey's little friend, Freddy, and we even got a little intimate with each other. Well, not a little. We-"

"Spare me the details, please."

"Point is, we put Joey to bed. Then, we're in the living room, watching a movie about this teenager with cancer who is a complete Debbie Downer about everything until she meets this guy. Surprise, right? Then, all of a sudden, he's talking about the baby again and he's driving me totally nuts!"

"How did the conversation go, exactly?"

Quinn took a deep breath.

_ "You want me to keep the baby?" Quinn shouted from across the room, grabbing a book and throwing it at him. _

"That's a slight over reaction," Rachel said, interrupting the story.

"Well, you'd have to be there to really understand the-"

"You shouldn't throw a book at him, regardless."

"Are you gonna keep interrupting me, or are you gonna let me tell the story?"

Rachel fell silent.

_ Puck fell to the floor, dodging the book as it hit the glass doors that lead out to the patio, nearly missing him as it landed on the rug. "Yes, I do." His head popped up from behind the couch, his arms resting on the back. "I think that I'd be a good dad, plus we're already living together and we're, like, dating, right?" Quinn glowered at him. "Keep the baby." _

_ She grabbed another book and hurled it at him with a high pitched scream. "Puck, I love this baby, you know that. But, being a mom at sixteen isn't exactly what girls my age dream about. And you say that we're living together, but how long is that going to last? Keeping the baby; it could tear us apart." _

_ Puck stood up, taking a few steps toward her. "And you don't want that?" _

_ "Of course not!" she said, throwing her arms up in the air. "Puck, I love you and if we keep it, then that love could turn into hate and soon I won't be able to stand you anymore. I'll turn into this haggy old mother who takes care of her baby while you're off doing girls with boob implants and tattoos on their lower backs because you can't stand the thought of sleeping with someone who is exhausted from taking care of a child and smells like baby powder." _

_ "Have you been talking to Mike lately?" _

_ She glared at him. "I just can't stand the thought of losing you…" _

_ Puck gathered the sobbing girl up in his arms and held her tightly. "You love me?" She nodded into his chest. "Then, if you really love me, you'll keep the baby." _

_ Quinn pulled away. "Puck, I can't just keep the baby because I love you. I'm thinking about you, you know I am, but I also have to think about me, whether or not keeping a baby is something I want." His head hung. "And you know something? I just told you I loved you and the only thing you say is 'Have you been talking to Mike lately?' You don't even say it back." _

_ Puck opened his mouth, ready to say it over a thousand times, but nothing came out. When he tried again, still nothing. Her chin wobbled. "And eye for an eye," she whispered, turning her back to him. "That's fine. Good bye, Puck." _

_ And then she was gone. _

"And then you were gone?"

Quinn looked at her friend, who was carrying two mugs of hot chocolate into the TV room. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

Rachel handed Quinn one of the mugs and sat back down. "I was just checking to make sure that's what you said." She blew at the steaming beverage and looked at Quinn, who appeared worn out and exhausted. "What do you think you're going to do?"

"I don't know!" Quinn shouted, almost spilling the hot chocolate onto her lap. She sucked a mini marshmallow from the cup. "I don't know whether to punch him because of his stupidity, or hug him for suffering with such brain damage."

Rachel giggled. "I think he's just trying to do what he thinks is best."

"I'm more pissed that he didn't say anything when I told him how I felt."

"He might not be ready for that yet." Quinn looked at Rachel with a limp face. "Come on, Quinn, he's Noah. I think the only thing he's ever said I love you to is his X-Box."

From upstairs, a voice suddenly called, "Ray, who is it?"

"It's Quinn."

"Quinn, how are you, dear?"

"_Furious!_" the teenager responded, tears spilling from her eyes.

There were footsteps on the stairs and suddenly, Rachel's fathers were standing in the TV room in their matching pajamas. They took one look at Quinn and Michael instantly said, "You can stay here as long as you need to. The couch, the guest room, Rachel's bed, gosh darn it, _our _bed, are all open to you."

Quinn smiled gratefully as Lyle stepped toward her. He placed his hand on the side of her face, his thumb running along her cheek softly.

"Whatever he did," Lyle said in a hushed tone, his eyes sincere, "he's not worth it."

Quinn's face pinched and she looked down at her lap, tears falling onto the ray fabric of her sweatpants. "He is, too, worth it."

"Why?" Lyle said, still quiet as he knelt down in an attempt to look at her.

"Because," she whispered, wiping her tears away and looking at the olive skinned man. "I love him."

An hour later, when the two hands on the clock were finally meeting up by the 12, Rachel and Quinn were snoring quietly on Rachel's bed. The house was calm as everyone slept soundly, and no one heard the creaking boards on the side of the house as a figure crept up the pillars to the balcony outside Rachel's window. Dressed in all black with a ski mask pulled over their head, the silhouette opened Rachel's window slowly and stepped inside the room.

One breath at a time, they tip-toed across the room. However, they did not get far before stepping on a dance shoe and crashing into the dresser. Rachel and Quinn jolted from their sleep, screaming at the top of their lungs and hugging themselves for protection.

"Curse the ninja Gods," the black figure said, standing up straight and advancing toward them.

"Please don't eat us!" Quinn hollered, grabbing two pencils off Rachel's nightstand and handing one to her friend. They pointed them at the figure.

"Eat you! Ha-ha! Oh, Blondie, that is the very least I will do."

Rachel jabbed the pencil with a troll doll on the top at him. "Just try to eat us," she threatened, stabbing the intruder once with her pencil.

He yelped and flapped his hands at her. "Stay away, fiend!"

"I could say the same thing to you, you lily-livered mannequin," Rachel retorted as she stabbed the pencil at him again.

The figure dodged out of the way, nearly crashing into the dresser. He snatched a book from the shelf near Rachel's bathroom and used it as a shield as he moved his way toward her. As the two people circled the room, Quinn scrambled across the bed and turned on the light. The lanky silhouette of the intruder was revealed and Quinn watched in utter confusion as a battle between her friend and the seeming ninja took place.

"You've entered this room far too many times," Rachel said, her eyes narrowing.

"Rach, what is going on."

"This swine," she said with a jab of her pencil, "has been intruding my personal space for days."

"Who is he?"

"You know me well, Quinn," the figure said in a voice that sounded far too familiar.

"And he won't get away with this!" Rachel shouted her arm shooting out to snatch her bottle of perfume of her dresser top.

The figures hands dropped his defense system as he held his arms up in surrender. "Ah. Shit. I can't compete with perfume. It'll make my asthma start to act up."

The lanky black figure reached up and pulled off the ski mask, running his hand over his spiky black hair a few times.

"Mike, this has to be the last time you break into my house!" Rachel warned, putting her pencil down and walking over to Quinn, who was still trembling from fright.

"But, it's so much fun!" Mike dragged out, dancing in his spot.

Rachel put her arm around Quinn. "It may be fun, but you scared the bajesus out of Quinn and you always do it at absurd hours of the night!"

Mike sits down on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry if I scared you, Quinn. I didn't know you were going to be here, and I had to sneak out of my own house to get over here, so I figured sneaking into yours was appropriate."

The brunette rolled her eyes with a smile, and Quinn nodded in thanks for his apology. "So. What _are _you doing here, Q?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," she said, scooting under the covers and resting her head on one of Rachel's many pillows.

"Puck?" Mike mouthed to Rachel, who just nodded once before the two of them tiptoed out of the room and down to the kitchen.

"Ray-bear, it's a little late to be having guests over…" her father called from the TV room, where Rachel's parents were watching the latest episode of Bones.

Rachel stuck her head into the TV room and smiled "I know, Daddy, but it's an emergency."

"Michael…" Lyle said in a concerned voice.

"Yeah?" the teenage boy said, sticking his head into the room as well.

Lyle laughed once. "No, not you, son," he said with a small smile. "My partner."

"Oh, my bad. Pleasure to see you both, by the way. You won't even know that I'm here."

Then, Mike pulled Rachel into the kitchen and she shrieked.

Michael shrugged his shoulders once. "Lyle, she never breaks our rules and hardly has guests over anyway. I think we can bend the rules just this one time."

Mike and Rachel sat at the kitchen table with a pint of sorbet in front of them. She handed him a spoon and he eagerly dove in. "So, Rachel, tell me all about what happened in chemistry today. I'm dying to hear about all the… _chemistry._"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That has got to be the tackiest thing you have ever said, Mike."

He grinned at her. "That I am well aware of. What I am not aware of is what happened during the class."

"Well… I tried explaining myself to him, but-"

"Alright, well, that's where you went wrong."

"How?"

"Never explain yourself to a man."

Rachel licked her spoon. "Why not?"

"Because men don't care about what you have to say, especially when they're mad at you. All they are about is either making you more pissed off, or getting you to pop their top six different ways."

"Well, maybe I should just give up on men, then, because neither one of those sounds appealing to me."

Mike shook his head. "Nah, Berry, you don't have to give up on men. There are still some good ones out there."

"Yeah, like who?"

Mike looked down at the floor. "Like me…" Rachel tsked her tongue once. "But, I have come to accept the fact that I will always be friendzoned by the best of them."

"Mike?"

"What?"

"I'll make you a deal." He looked up at her. "If Jesse and I don't work out, then-"

Mike held his hand up to stop her. "No, Rachel. Don't do it unless you mean it."

She placed her hand over his. "I mean it."

His eyes narrowed at her, and she narrowed hers back until he pulled his hand from under hers and held it out to her. "Alright, Rachel. If you and Jesse don't work out, then… Deal."

She shook his head and grinned at him. "Deal."

**Alright, that's all for now, folks. REVIEW? **


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